How to fight with an SK.

[Xerc]

<p>I was wondering if some skilled SK players could give me tips on how you use your SK and some fighting techniques maybe.</p>

[MaCloud1032]

<p>This is a very general question.  I say that because of how you learn to tank, the group you run with, skill, gear, and healer type.</p><p>I had a zerker teach me how to tank.  So he told me pop your mit buff and pull all that you see.  Well we have no mit buff but i still pull all that i see.</p><p>Iam sure that if many watched me tank they would think me as quite reckless.  I dont see it as reckless more of confadent.  As a tank you have to put yoru faith in your healer.  If you have any doubt in your healer find a way to fix that.  I dont run in pick up groups for tha reason.  I know and trust the healers in my guild/alliance and i stick with them.  Out of personal preferance i like to run with wardens as my main healer.  They cast quick and heal very well.  A healer that understands how you tank is priceless.  For the most part i tell the healers to keep the DoTs and other imparments off of me and ill heal the rest.  The other night i was in kaladim during the ring event i was doing 50+% of the healing and 90% of the dmg as a duo.  For the most part there is nothing more effivent than a life tap.</p><p>For the most part everyone will tell you make sure you blessign is up for every pull and just take it slow and easy.  I almost never use my blessing and pull entire rooms at a time.</p>

[Dead Knight]

Please be more specific. If you're looking for how to play an SK in all aspects of EQ2 you're better off doing a search on these forums as nobody will be patient enough to spend half an hour summarising everything.

[Gutwren]

<p>Was in SS screwing around, 3 SK's and a defiler/fury and someone else.</p><p>Anywho... Pulling 15-25 ^^^'s at a time (depending on room size)... all the SK's normally parsing 3k+... was fun...</p>

[Dead Knight]

<cite>Gutwrench wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Was in SS screwing around, 3 SK's and a defiler/fury and someone else.</p><p>Anywho... Pulling 15-25 ^^^'s at a time (depending on room size)... all the SK's normally parsing 3k+... was fun...</p></blockquote>lol?

[Coica]

 I've found that what makes me good at my class ( yeah.. my personal opinion <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> is a learned thing. I read up a lot and checked boards frequently and looked at other SK's gear and stuff . but once I hit 70  I really learned what works and what doesnt by trial and error. I watched raid leaders and asked a few questions here and there about raids, but again.. I learned how to MT best by doing it and learning from my mistakes. so thats my advice. dont be afraid to try stuff  and  pay attention to what you are doing and you'll learn. but once you do that.. .. we are one bad@z class to play.

[Beldin_]

<p>Precast blessing before pull .. that always helps a lot with initial aggro. Try do finish a quick HO with coil, wis-debuff and group-taunt before the rest starts doing damage. After that .. single taunt, shield-bash .. and then fire your AoEs if its a group of mobs.</p><p>I know it can be done without blessing .. but it really helps alot .. i loose aggro noticable more often if i'm lazy or get jumped and don't have it up <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Dead Knight]

Pre casting blessing before pull is good practice when soloing, I don't always do it when grouping/raiding as it slows down the pace and I don't have aggro issues anyway. The one thing I can't stand is slow tanks. Doing 2-4 raid zones a night you can't afford to be a slow bastage as everyone wants to get their loot then go to bed so they can wake up early for work the next day.

[geophonic]

I am quite familiar with the way darksavanna does the job, I like pulling entire rooms of mobs and I also tend to not wait for everyone to get ready/full mana/ etc. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" /> It´s just more fun if things are not 100%But back to the topic: It´s a learning thing on the one hand and the learning is also influenced by your group setup and how good your fellow players are. If you have a lazy healer, don´t go full throttle. In pickup groups, start slow and increase the pace, if you run with the same people all the time you know their capabilities.As to what spells when how and why? Thats the leraning thing. It´s not that pattern A with blessing - taunt - kick - taunt etc will get you the best result, it´s situational and not too hard to figure out.The only thing a Shadowknight, aswell as every other tank, has to learn ist to evaluate the capabilities of the current group and play by it.

[Beldin_]

<cite>Dead Knight wrote:</cite><blockquote>Pre casting blessing before pull is good practice when soloing, I don't always do it when grouping/raiding as it slows down the pace and I don't have aggro issues anyway. The one thing I can't stand is slow tanks. Doing 2-4 raid zones a night you can't afford to be a slow bastage as everyone wants to get their loot then go to bed so they can wake up early for work the next day.</blockquote><p>I bet you always have your aggro buffs if you raid. If you don't have them .. and especially if your below level 55 (i think the opener is a new char) and don't have tap veins, it just helps a lot. Else you slow down the group the same way if people die or just have to  hold back their damage.</p><p>On the other hand .. if the tank is to slow, let the warlocks pull. "Hey .. i start devastation .. you have 4 seconds to build up aggro from .. NOW" <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p>

[Dead Knight]

<cite>Shalla@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Dead Knight wrote:</cite><blockquote>Pre casting blessing before pull is good practice when soloing, I don't always do it when grouping/raiding as it slows down the pace and I don't have aggro issues anyway. The one thing I can't stand is slow tanks. Doing 2-4 raid zones a night you can't afford to be a slow bastage as everyone wants to get their loot then go to bed so they can wake up early for work the next day.</blockquote><p>I bet you always have your aggro buffs if you raid. If you don't have them .. and especially if your below level 55 (i think the opener is a new char) and don't have tap veins, it just helps a lot. Else you slow down the group the same way if people die or just have to  hold back their damage.</p><p>On the other hand .. if the tank is to slow, let the warlocks pull. "Hey .. i start devastation .. you have 4 seconds to build up aggro from .. NOW" <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p></blockquote>Yes, I do have aggro buffs if I'm raiding unless I'm in the mage group. As for groups, most of the time I don't have aggro buffs and don't even bother to taunt. When I play with the people I play with Heroic mobs die too fast to waste time building aggro, so it doesn't really matter, lol.

[MaCloud1032]

<cite>Shalla@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Dead Knight wrote:</cite><blockquote>Pre casting blessing before pull is good practice when soloing, I don't always do it when grouping/raiding as it slows down the pace and I don't have aggro issues anyway. The one thing I can't stand is slow tanks. Doing 2-4 raid zones a night you can't afford to be a slow bastage as everyone wants to get their loot then go to bed so they can wake up early for work the next day.</blockquote><p>I bet you always have your aggro buffs if you raid. If you don't have them .. and especially if your below level 55 (i think the opener is a new char) and don't have tap veins, it just helps a lot. Else you slow down the group the same way if people die or just have to  hold back their damage.</p><p>On the other hand .. if the tank is to slow, let the warlocks pull. "Hey .. i start devastation .. you have 4 seconds to build up aggro from .. NOW" <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p></blockquote>Funny my locks open with apoc and rift and i dont get a warning.  ill trade you mine for yours 

[MaCloud1032]

<cite>Corvinos@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote>I am quite familiar with the way darksavanna does the job, I like pulling entire rooms of mobs and I also tend to not wait for everyone to get ready/full mana/ etc. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src=" width="15" height="15" />"> It´s just more fun if things are not 100%But back to the topic: It´s a learning thing on the one hand and the learning is also influenced by your group setup and how good your fellow players are. If you have a lazy healer, don´t go full throttle. In pickup groups, start slow and increase the pace, if you run with the same people all the time you know their capabilities.As to what spells when how and why? Thats the leraning thing. It´s not that pattern A with blessing - taunt - kick - taunt etc will get you the best result, it´s situational and not too hard to figure out.The only thing a Shadowknight, aswell as every other tank, has to learn ist to evaluate the capabilities of the current group and play by it.</blockquote>Ok i need your venekor name.  Hiding behind a diffrent server.<img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />

[geophonic]

NOO, I am not playing on venekor at all <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />maybe I missphrased it, but I just wanted to point out that may playstyle is similar to what you described here about yourself .-)people keep telling me that "pulling" is not the right word to describe what I am actually doing *eg*

[Norrsken]

<cite>Corvinos@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote>NOO, I am not playing on venekor at all <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" />maybe I missphrased it, but I just wanted to point out that may playstyle is similar to what you described here about yourself .-)people keep telling me that "pulling" is not the right word to describe what I am actually doing *eg*</blockquote>Hehe. Well, when a sk is pulling, prepare for multiple heroics at a time. there is just something about the class that seems to make people do that. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Pretty much every sk I've grouped with pulls a room at a time, or at least 2-3 heroics. Including me. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I usually introduce myself with "Hey, I'll get you killed once or twice, but you are in for a ride. Enjoy. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" Hehe.

[MaCloud1032]

<cite>Corvinos@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote>NOO, I am not playing on venekor at all <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" />maybe I missphrased it, but I just wanted to point out that may playstyle is similar to what you described here about yourself .-)people keep telling me that "pulling" is not the right word to describe what I am actually doing *eg*</blockquote>> <

[Beldin_]

<cite>Ulvhamne@Nagafen wrote:</cite><blockquote>Hehe. Well, when a sk is pulling, prepare for multiple heroics at a time. there is just something about the class that seems to make people do that. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" /> Pretty much every sk I've grouped with pulls a room at a time, or at least 2-3 heroics. Including me. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" /> I usually introduce myself with "Hey, I'll get you killed once or twice, but you are in for a ride. Enjoy. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" />" Hehe.</blockquote><p>Funniest thing is always if other players tell you "no AoEs here because of adds" <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p><p>However .. the initial poster sounded as if he is a beginner with the class, and with level 30 or whatever we're not that good in roompulling like later when we have our ancient teachings. And so i think in the beginning you should also first learn basics how to pull just a single mob out of a room and hold aggro, before he wipes his group and some more people think that SKs suck as tanks <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Norrsken]

<cite>Shalla@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Ulvhamne@Nagafen wrote:</cite><blockquote>Hehe. Well, when a sk is pulling, prepare for multiple heroics at a time. there is just something about the class that seems to make people do that. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img mce_tsrc=" />" width="15" height="15" /> Pretty much every sk I've grouped with pulls a room at a time, or at least 2-3 heroics. Including me. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img mce_tsrc=" />" width="15" height="15" /> I usually introduce myself with "Hey, I'll get you killed once or twice, but you are in for a ride. Enjoy. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img mce_tsrc=" />" width="15" height="15" />" Hehe.</blockquote><p>Funniest thing is always if other players tell you "no AoEs here because of adds" <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p><p>However .. the initial poster sounded as if he is a beginner with the class, and with level 30 or whatever we're not that good in roompulling like later when we have our ancient teachings. And so i think in the beginning you should also first learn basics how to pull just a single mob out of a room and hold aggro, before he wipes his group and some more people think that SKs suck as tanks <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" /></p></blockquote>Yeah, that is true. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Coica]

 always funny when a mez or charm class who doesnt know me groups up and after  things get righteous asks "umm.. do you want me to mez/charm  the adds? because your aoe is breaking my mez." muahahaha!!

[MaCloud1032]

not our fault we are dont go well with mezzers.  WTB more AEs with RoK

[Xiziz]

Well it Depends on what your doing. If your trying to Tank the 70 lvl instances your not gonna be very successful yanking whole rooms. I run a pretty steady rotation of Nizara unrest and fear usally half PUG and half guild or ill go run small x2 raid stuff . IMO Body pulling is best . I have my abilities macroed so both my taunts and spells are linked into combos. if you plan on tanking in single group stuff i suggest you spec your AA accordingly that will help greatly with aggro problems in the more diffcult long fights where you got big hits from your DPS. Obviously you would Sword and board in thoose situations for the extra hate gain from your shiled taunt. other then that there is several opinions on AA builds , try a few different ones out and see what works for you . SK's are great tanks if you spec them correctly . Im not sure there are many that can do T 7 EOF x4's but hell half the guardians on any given server couldnt either . just Remember if you spec for soloing your not gonna hold aggro great in long fights when DPS classes start letting loose to burn down Bosses.

[Dead Knight]

I deliberately grab adds in every T7 instance to speed it up except Nizara.

[Beldin_]

<cite>Xiziz wrote:</cite><blockquote> just Remember if you spec for soloing your not gonna hold aggro great in long fights when DPS classes start letting loose to burn down Bosses.</blockquote>Hm.. normally speced for solo is speced for DPS (in my opinion), and DPS is good for aggro. Since healing produces aggro, reaver is also fine. Or about what kind of solo-spec are you thinking ?

[StaticLex]

I just made a newb SK a week or so ago.  The class seems OK so far but I do have one question..  Are shields worth using?  I've been using a 2-hander since day one and everything seems fine so far, just curious if I am missing out.

[Dead Knight]

<cite>Shalla@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Xiziz wrote:</cite><blockquote> just Remember if you spec for soloing your not gonna hold aggro great in long fights when DPS classes start letting loose to burn down Bosses.</blockquote>Hm.. normally speced for solo is speced for DPS (in my opinion), and DPS is good for aggro. Since healing produces aggro, reaver is also fine. Or about what kind of solo-spec are you thinking ?</blockquote>Most SK's that spec for soloing spec for max defense since if you want to do any sort of serious DPS you actually need to get the procs and specific gear that only really drops on raids.

[joeygopher]

<p>and most heroic fights are over so fast your DPS won't look too uber.  we put out some very nice AoE damage, but we need the time for those ticks.</p><p>it really does get easier post lvl 58.  after that you will only ever buy food for stats, as if you want to heal you go pull some stuff <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>the thing that i believe keeps most people playing their SKs tho is their versatility.  you can play in so many different styles compared to the other fighters.  </p>

[Beldin_]

<cite>joeygopher wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>and most heroic fights are over so fast your DPS won't look too uber.  we put out some very nice AoE damage, but we need the time for those ticks.</p><p>it really does get easier post lvl 58.  after that you will only ever buy food for stats, as if you want to heal you go pull some stuff <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" /></p><p>the thing that i believe keeps most people playing their SKs tho is their versatility.  you can play in so many different styles compared to the other fighters.  </p></blockquote><p>The other thing is, that zerker for example is plain boring .. 50% of you damage is autoattack .. most of your styles totally suck .. there is only destruction and open wounds .. else you just mash anything because its to boring to do nothing else. As SK i know at least why i use my spells and how i use them to get the best out of them.</p><p>On the other hand .. last week i was 2-boxing in Aca .. Manaburners suckt all my mana .. and then killed my warden .. at that moment i really wished i haf the autoattack of my zerker .. but .. psssst <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Skua]

<cite>Shalla@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>joeygopher wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>and most heroic fights are over so fast your DPS won't look too uber.  we put out some very nice AoE damage, but we need the time for those ticks.</p><p>it really does get easier post lvl 58.  after that you will only ever buy food for stats, as if you want to heal you go pull some stuff <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src=" />" width="15" height="15" /></p><p>the thing that i believe keeps most people playing their SKs tho is their versatility.  you can play in so many different styles compared to the other fighters.  </p></blockquote><p>The other thing is, that zerker for example is plain boring .. 50% of you damage is autoattack .. most of your styles totally suck .. there is only destruction and open wounds .. else you just mash anything because its to boring to do nothing else. As SK i know at least why i use my spells and how i use them to get the best out of them.</p><p>On the other hand .. last week i was 2-boxing in Aca .. Manaburners suckt all my mana .. and then killed my warden .. at that moment i really wished i haf the autoattack of my zerker .. but .. psssst <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" /></p></blockquote>thanks good HT cost 0 mana <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> is a life saver <3

[Dead Knight]

Using a weapon as easy to get as the Lucanic Gladius (later upgraded to Soulfire, but I'm assuming you aren't raiding Mayong) or the Qeynos Claymore can down the mana thirsters in about 6 seconds just off auto attack. I solo Acad every day.