How well can swashies tank?

[BiggiEQ2]

<p>Setting up a duo with a Templar, started off with a Pally but then saw the STA line on my lowbie swashie and wondered just how well they can tank?  The Temp is pretty clued up so I won't have to worry about a rubbish healer, and a lot of the STA line intorduces funky tank abilities, better shield effectiveness, HP boost, % boost of worn armour, taunting, aggression, but all added up, can they do the job well?</p><p>Trying to decide Pally over Swashy now for the duo - yes we will be doign instance runs and its not exclusively a duo thing we will be doing groups, just wondering how well they fair <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Trojenn]

<p>It all depends on lvl and gear. I am going to say that if you are fairly low and want to try to tackle stuff that is almost out of your color con reach then you may want to go with an actual tank. Right now at 80 with a Hybrid STA line Spec I can tank anything EoF (Raid) and even in full DPS spec can tank any GRP instance in RoK. So yeah i think once you get to 80 and decently geared you could probably tackle just about anything you want.</p><p>My Hybrid Stance is STR AGI STA which is the same lines for DPS but just with a few points moved around.</p><p>TANK                                            DPS</p><p>STR    AGI     STA                 STR        AGI        STA      INT</p><p>4         4         8                    4            4            4           4</p><p>4         8         4                    8            8            4          1</p><p>8         4         8                    4             4            4  </p><p>           8         6                    8            8</p><p>           1         1                    1            1</p><p>So I guess the point in this thread is yes a swashbuckler IMO is a great tank for older stuff and current grp stuff. I wouldn't want to try and tank ROK raids though..</p>

[Beldin_]

<p>Swashy is the best scout-tank next to Brig. Brig has higher mitigation however Swashy has not so much styles that need him to stand behind the mob, just skill also "walk the plank" and you can use most of your styles while tanking <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  Also Swashy has better AoE aggro especially after level 55 when he gets Hurricane.</p>

[Rippitt]

The swashbuckler makes a far better tank than a brigand. Brigands may have their own mitigation buff, but mitigation means nothing when you are avoiding hits. I use a standard DW build for raiding, and a mixed 'old school' str-wis setup for tanking. STR 4-4-8-8-1, AGI 4-8, WIS 4-8-8-8-1 This gives the absolute maximum avoidance available without actually equipping a shield. The idea of wearing a shield full time while tanking seems silly to me when I can get my avoidance up to about 95% of what the shield would give with the freehand aa line. Another option would be to use both the roundshield and freehand aa lines in tandem: STR 4-4-4-8, STA 4-4-8-6-2, WIS 4-4-7-8-2 The beauty of this setup is that you are ALWAYS getting the bonuses from both end abilities in STA-WIS, and the roundshield is just there to equip when something gets really rough. I'm also confidident that I could off-tank all of T1-T2 raid content.

[OutcastBlade]

<cite>Rippitt@Guk wrote:</cite><blockquote>The swashbuckler makes a far better tank than a brigand. Brigands may have their own mitigation buff, but mitigation means nothing when you are avoiding hits.I use a standard DW build for raiding, and a mixed 'old school' str-wis setup for tanking.STR 4-4-8-8-1, AGI 4-8, WIS 4-8-8-8-1This gives the absolute maximum avoidance available without actually equipping a shield. The idea of wearing a shield full time while tanking seems silly to me when I can get my avoidance up to about 95% of what the shield would give with the freehand aa line.Another option would be to use both the roundshield and freehand aa lines in tandem:STR 4-4-4-8, STA 4-4-8-6-2, WIS 4-4-7-8-2The beauty of this setup is that you are ALWAYS getting the bonuses from both end abilities in STA-WIS, and the roundshield is just there to equip when something gets really rough.I'm also confidident that I could off-tank all of T1-T2 raid content.</blockquote>The problem with this approach is avoidance is good sure, but when you do get hit, you get hit hard. Toss a druid in the group for fast heals and you're good. Toss a cleric in the group for slow heals and you have the chance to die a lot quicker. In saying that swashies make fine tanks, for older raid content, and decent tanks for 75+ instance groups.

[Rippitt]

Of course you get hit hard, but at any rate i'd take 5% more avoidance over 5% more mitigation.

[Mörk]

<p>Our trio of swash-ranger-templar cleared COA in a reasonably good time. I'm STR/AGI/STA spec, though I have macros for 1h/shield and DW and can't recall which I used more. I do recall being primarily in offensive stance and I only had aggro management issues on the Emperor when the ranger was going all-out. I have and use no real +hate or +aggression gear, so I dare say I could probably have held aggro even better... but my main concern was blowing stuff up.</p><p>Health wasnt a problem as the temp in question is our guild's raid MT healer and his gear is pretty nice. Holy Water Sprinkler > all.</p>

[Trojenn]

I still say that an altered version of Raid Setup is the best way IMO, I dropped the crit and t-swipe and finished out the STA line. I have 67% Avoid Self Buffed and right at 55% Mit, If I wanna DPS i drop the shield and DW but if I get hit hard I will throw the shield and go defensive. Now yes i do have my D-Stance Mastered and My O-Stance is Mastered. I can tank Maidens and Chelsith with a Warden solo healing with no porblems.. Now it was fun to tank MMIS the other night <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[OutcastBlade]

Those are some nice numbers Dirtybird.

[riblete]

I am back playing again after a stoppage since right after the sky expansion came out. I started up another swashy, since I wanted to peak AA's through quests instead of having to grind out AA's on my existing 58 swashy. And I always loved my swashy best. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/2786c5c8e1a8be796fb2f726cca5a0fe.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />  So my new swashy is at level 58, matching my last. I found I get relegated to tank duties in most groups I join. (Why a dearth of tanks? Probably the same reason I switched to swashy from my 60 guardian not long after PoF came out.)So my question becomes, what is a good way to keep the excellent solo-quest type character attributes while adding in better group-tank attributes?I am current spec'd Wis-Str with Reach. I am thinking of adding either potency or the debuff one for my second swashy AA. Then when I get 70, I will have some more AA's to allocate around. But concentrating on the hear-and-now, is it recommended to re-spec as  STR - STA, or as AGI - STA?  And is reach a good choice for me? What second swashy line would be a good fit?

[RingleToo]

<cite>ribleteto wrote:</cite><blockquote>I am back playing again after a stoppage since right after the sky expansion came out. I started up another swashy, since I wanted to peak AA's through quests instead of having to grind out AA's on my existing 58 swashy. And I always loved my swashy best. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/2786c5c8e1a8be796fb2f726cca5a0fe.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />  So my new swashy is at level 58, matching my last. I found I get relegated to tank duties in most groups I join. (Why a dearth of tanks? Probably the same reason I switched to swashy from my 60 guardian not long after PoF came out.)So my question becomes, what is a good way to keep the excellent solo-quest type character attributes while adding in better group-tank attributes?I am current spec'd Wis-Str with Reach. I am thinking of adding either potency or the debuff one for my second swashy AA. Then when I get 70, I will have some more AA's to allocate around. But concentrating on the hear-and-now, is it recommended to re-spec as  STR - STA, or as AGI - STA?  And is reach a good choice for me? What second swashy line would be a good fit?</blockquote><p>You might think about getting someone to make you an AA mirror. The smoldering shards are fairly inexpensive on the broker now. That way you can have 2 different AA set-ups. A bit inconvenient for impromptu pickup groups, maybe, since you'd have to run back to your room to swap AA settings,  but still very handy to have when you're able to plan ahead.  </p><p>Reach is a very nice ability to have, by the way, for soloing and especially in groups/raids. </p>

[Dreadpatch]

Dunno about raid zones, but I tanked Maiden's Chamber for the first time a couple of weeks ago with my swashy. I also duel wielded most of the way, (had to go sword/shield on a couple of names). I will admit I had 3 healers, but that means I had to do a lot of extra dps to make up for it : ) I've also gone through CoA, it is cake.

[Jamil]

i got wis/agi/str spec and cleared coa with illu + templar and illu + dirge couple of times.. yeh with a few wipes on the second setup but who cares >.<

[riblete]

I have now tried out Str-Wis, Agl-Sta, and my current Agl-Wis.  It was surprising to me that Agl-Sta had not much more in the way of defense over the other two. The mitigation bonus and extra taunt was really the only major benefit of the entire stamina line. The difference in avoidance was very small, and did not parse out to be much at all. Total damage taken was a wash since I was killing faster in either of the other two setups.I also found that I like the Agility ability to turn the mob around for a few seconds to be *highly* valuable while tanking in order to get all of my nice offensive debuff's off early in the fight. The extra 3 seconds of the mob not hitting me is a bonus. The extra damage from the power when hitting the mob from behind helps to get agro back quickly if a caster goes too heavy on the blasting (or out-hits me on the AOEs). The agility line seems to be a nice addition for soloing too.Overall the Wisdom line works well for tanking, as it adds a decent amount of parry against mobs in every direction. This is useful with adds, and I am wondering if hurricane procs off of the reposts? The extra defense and offense from the final wisdom power is very nice. The extra offense from double attack more than makes up from duel-wielding. And the extra damage from the always-on repost/parry is pudding on the cake. You can tell I like the Wisdom line <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /> , so I am a little hesitant to try out Str/Agl.I plan to stick with Agility / Wisdom for a while, and will add Strength when I hit level 70 (I am 63 now)

[Untruth]

<p>So what am i not seeing here about a swashie's tanking capabilities? Currently in str/agi, my avoidance won't go higher than 42-43% while in defensive stance, but even with the wisdom line or stamina line with a round shield equiped and significantly more agility i can't honestly see it going significantly higher than 60%.</p><p>Does most of a swashie's avoidance come from group buffs or something? And if thats the case, shouldn't an assassin be better for doing that because their defensive stance gives higher avoidance instead of the 1.15x multiplier to your mitigation?</p>

[Beldin_]

<p>No .. some people are simply so uber that they don't take damage with 30% avoidance <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Assasssin however can't tank that good because they have much more styles that only work from behind, so they can't really do that much damage when tanking. </p><p>Personally i would always go in offense stance and better use a shield before go defense.</p>

[riblete]

I have decided that swashy tanking can be broken down like this:<ul><li>One mob on me, I tank great!</li><li>Two or more mobs on me, not so great.</li></ul>We are a very debuff-oriented class. Our debuffs turn a monster into a kitten. And we simply have no easy way to seriously debuff the damage dealing capability of more than one mob at a time. Our stuns are also quite wonderful, but again only keep one mob down. Our mez is terribly nice for controlling that second mob... if the group plays correctly. But chances are, the first mob is down in 10 seconds, and we have to tank that second mob without the benefit of our big debuff.

[OutcastBlade]

<p>I burn down one mob...</p><p>For two mobs, I tab -> disarm -> tab............................ tab -> disarm -> tab</p><p>Never fought three mobs except groups in VoES which was nothing.</p><p>But in RoK instances you shouldn't be pulling more than one in CoA or Chels. In VoES the mobs dont hit hard enough to get me down before the healers can heal me. Granted I can get up to 12k with two healers so I can take some hits.</p>

[riblete]

Is there a solution for swashys (equipment, potion, etc) to the massive-alpha-strike problem some named mobs present? On my guardian that I played pre-KoS, I used Tower of Stone. What can a swashy do when the alpha strike is more health than I have?

[OutcastBlade]

<p>Never experienced this alpha strike as you call it with any RoK, or KoS instance mobs... But to answer your question, we don't have anything that can soak up more damage that we have hitpoints.</p><p>So hope that you have a shaman with wards in your group :p</p>