Looking for feedback on stances

[Sa]

<DIV>Last night was trying to see what stances and buffs to stack. I was using Battle fury, Retaliation, Shocking fists when able, Rousing cry and the upgrade to brawl. This seemed to work well. Havent really seen a reason to use magmatic fists or the fire stance. With retaliation and the others our avoidance and mitigation is way higher and dont see much of a drop in my DPS using these. Just want to see what you guys are using. Feedback please</DIV> <DIV>Frontline Tigerstyle</DIV> <DIV>50th bruiser</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Jhoric]

<DIV>That's what I've been using. I was using my bare fists at first, but there are some mobs that are immune to fist damage, so I said screw it and switched back to double beat sticks (cudgels).</DIV>

[Raidi Sovin'faile]

<P>I don't even know why they bothered putting that "bare fist" thing in there.. the only time it will ever be used is if you die so many times that your weapons break on you and you are still in a fight (maybe after combat rez or something). Even then, it's only increasing a proc, which only happens 10% of the time... it's not like it increases the rest of your attacks or allows you to hit things.</P> <P>The only experience I've had so far is as an offtank. And because we were exploring the new zones, I offtanked quite a bit (taking care of adds: mezing, fearing, tanking). Also, I tended to pull aggro from the Zerker MT, even though he was a level higher and had some fabled gear. We need to get used to our new abilities.</P> <P>So I took the combined stance for most of the night. If I was purely DPS (say, in a controlled environment, like arena or an instance or something), then I'd go all out attack.. the proc is nice. If I were the tank, I'd stick with retaliation of course.<BR>However, keep in mind you still need to hit your target... we were fighting lvl 59s out there, and having a -19 to your attack skills makes hitting targets 9 levels higher than you somewhat difficult.</P> <P>So I'd break it down like this:<BR>- Offensive Stance, used when absolutely sure you won't be taking aggro. Turn on when in pure DPS mode.<BR>- Defensive Stance, used when tanking and sure that you will be able to hit your target.<BR>- Combined Stance, used when offtanking and risk getting hit, or when the hit to your attack on the defensive stance will hurt your ability to land attacks and keep aggro. Primarily offtanking, potentially used in tanking situations.</P> <P> </P> <P>Lastly, a small note on our group buff... it looks like we'd be a great member to put in the DPS group (either raid, or just for a damage oriented group). Not sure on all the other tank's group buffs, but +DPS % is nothing to sneeze at!</P>

[Traigus]

I used all 3 last night at 49.5. Solo definitely is te mixed stance, seems good for off tanking too.  When I was main tank w/ a group the def stance was very good (my dps went down quite a bit). Only used the offensive one for a very short time. Magmatic fists is APP 1 and I can't find the upgrades (even after today's patch notes sys they are on vendors... and I don't ahve my own pocket CA maker and rares handy. Honestly, I'd only use it on a raid, or if there were 3 tanks in the group.  The mixed is better for off-tanking and adds, unless it scales in a very hefty way at Adept I. -T <div></div>

[Dfoley3]

Stances - Totaly worthelss atm unless your fighting something 60+ or any named 55+  I Tanked in an exp group for 2 hrs using offensive stance and the healer (just an inquis) didnt even notice. I soloed mobs for the quest carpet for an hour using offensive stance, never got below  80% (soloed 55 and lower solo mobs) On mobs 60+ (next teir) their inate bonuses and stats are so signifcantly more that not using defensive stance hurt, but by then the + 18 to defense from adept 3 tank stance is so small that it really doesnt matter.  Long story short, the effectiveness of + defense is reduced so in a well balanced group you will prolly never notice.  Soloing, if ur not full legendary +, use tank stance otherwise it wasnt that hard.  I was able to trio 52 heroics (^^^) with me (monk) a wiz, and a sk  with me using off stance. <div></div>

[Sa]

<DIV>Sorry I beg to differ. I see stances making a big difference. I get hit slot less tanking with Def. stance and see me not able to hit many mobs over 57 with it on due to offensive negatives. Its not the differense in our gear doing it either. I wear a good bit of fabled and the rest is legendary.</DIV>

[MakhailSamma]

<DIV>Switching from Offensive to Defensive stance is a huge differense that I am seeing. Just looking at the number, adds something along the lines of 15% avoidance from one to the other. </DIV>

[Xcomdefen]

When I was forced to tank for awhile last night, keeping my offensive stances on was iffy at times sometimes i would reach 3 bubs of health during fights, with my defensive on I stayed in the high bubs without too much problem. <div></div>

[XeroXs84]

I am level 31 now and wondering what the balanced stance is? or dont i have a balanced stance yet? Maybe i havent found it in my Knowledgebook, would be nice if someone could tell me <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I have: Bouncer (Defensive?) and Fiery Fists (Offensive?) Thanks <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <div></div>

[Raidi Sovin'faile]

<P>You don't have it yet. Here's the progression:</P> <P><STRONG>Defensive Stances</STRONG> - Toughness (<EM>Fighter 4</EM>) --> Brawler's Stance (<EM>Brawler 16</EM>) --> Bouncer (<EM>Bruiser 30</EM>) --> Retaliation (<EM>Bruiser 44</EM>) --> Retribution (<EM>Bruiser 58</EM>)</P> <P><STRONG>Offensive Stances</STRONG> - Fiery Fists (<EM>Bruiser 21</EM>) --> Lava Fists (<EM>Bruiser 35</EM>) --> Magmatic Fists (<EM>Bruiser 49</EM>)</P> <P><STRONG>Combined Stances</STRONG> - Fire Stance (<EM>Bruiser 44</EM>) --> Provoking Stance (<EM>Bruiser 58</EM>)</P> <P><BR>This is just my guess, but here's how I reason the way they did this...<BR>We are primarily a Tank class, so we get our defensive stances sooner, and more fleshed out over the levels. Our offensive stances only start when we split off and become Bruisers, because the level of "offensive" will be different than Monks, and it behooves it to follow a theme (the whole "fire" thing). Offtanking only becomes a real issue in the later levels, and there's openings for new lines of abilities, so we get our combined stances at the latest point. You can get away with offtanking with your Offensive Stance, since the detriments aren't too high yet.. but at the higher levels it's much more painful, and we need a different stance considering the spikey nature of avoidance tanking.</P> <P>Basically, the reason you haven't seen the combined stance yet is because there hasn't been room to fit in the new line until later, and because it's not really necessary at the lower levels (you can get away with Offensive stance while offtanking at the lower levels).</P><p>Message Edited by Raidi Sovin'faile on <span class=date_text>09-16-2005</span> <span class=time_text>03:06 AM</span>

[XeroXs84]

thanks!<div></div>