Ugg's Pure Elite Tank Build

[Reggin]

So many warriors out there don't know how to best use the class, so I wanted to share my build and how to use it. I have all classes capped, so I wanted to share that no matter what you do a warrior will never come close to doing the DPS of a rogue or mage. As a result, I'd built my warrior to be a pure tank.

The entire purpose is to maintain aggro and keep the party safe while they slaughter stuff quickly. This build is entirely focused on end game elite tanking.

Skills:

Chest Splitter, Staggering Blow
This is the bread and butter skill. It interrupts wind up attacks and taunts. Draw the boss to the wall and spam away while alternating auto attacks.

Axe Throw, Denting Blow, Concussion, Chained Bait
Use this for pulling and reducing armor. Reduce the urge to spam it, as it's best to always have it available in case the boss pulls aggro. As soon as the boss faces someone else, use it!

Juggernaut, Ignore Pain, Second Wind, Bring It On
Wonderful panic button that also taunts several times all mobs around you. Great to use right before walking into a pack so rogues can pick off individual mobs. Try to use it only in emergencies or pulls.

Horn of Renew, Maxed
The bread and butter of staying alive and keeping the team safe. You all know how it works, so just be smart in using it. If a boss has a wind up aoe attack, time it to make your whole party take no damage.

Gear:
Go for the best gear you can afford. Prioritize armor and health. Don't worry about damage! You don't do much no matter what you do and all of your that generation comes from having 4 taunt skills. I personally use the sword and shield for this very reason. It swings fast, allowing you to quickly build new aggro after your taunt catches you up in threat.

Pure tank gear is actually really cheap oddly, since so many warriors try to do damage (and fail to be close to the damage of a rogue or mage who spends 10% of what the warrior pays for gear).

Tanking:
This is what separates the men from the boys. If you've never played with a real tank, you're in for a treat the first time you do. Pull mobs to the walls do their backs are out in the open and the party can do damage without getting hit. This makes it easy to tell when it turns around so you can axe throw for instant aggro.

Positioning for the fight is amazing for clearing elite areas quickly. Don't be afraid to turn around to run out and renew to protect your damage dealers. Time spent walking back is time the dps isn't killing stuff. The whole point of an efficient tank is to help clear things quickly and easily.

Pets:
The big drawback of this build is the lack of space for Vengeful Blood, so mana could be an issue. To solve this, I alternate between three pets (never feeding any of them). Nexus, Flap Jack, and Snaggletooth all give mana regen. Nexus' arcane will eliminate the need for mana pots. The others will lessen the need. If you run with a mage who has the mana heal, also a non issue.

Final Thoughts:
Some may find the build boring and ultimately try to change things up. While this may be true sometimes, resist the urge. When you have aggro, do NOTHING other than spam auto attack, interrupt wind up attacks, and shield your party. You want all your taunts available if a rogue goes on a crazy crit streak.

Your damage is garbage anyway, so don't worry about trying to deal any. Focus on keeping aggro and keeping everyone safe. You'll notice the runs go so much faster by focusing on positioning.

Also, this is old school MMO tanking basics, but when clearing trash and it's almost dead, leave the dps to clean up and go grab the next pack to position and grab aggro.

Most importantly... COMMUNICATE! Many STS players are new to the MMO world and are very casual players. When doing a hard elite area with a PUG, tell them what to do and what to expect! They'll appreciate it! Many have never seen a tank to anything other than charge in and skill spam. Communication allowed me to tank elite Bael with a PUG at 15 with 0 deaths.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. My warrior's IGN is "Ugg".

[Reggin]

Reserved.

[ShadowGunX]

FYI horn of renew skill is dmg dependent. more ur dmg more is ur healing. i hav around 100dmg nd my horn heals 300hp roughly per 1.5sec. also using CS u can pull aggro evry 3sec. incase if u want armour debuffing choose guapo as it can debuff 20%armour to boss.
i hav tried this build nd found myself eating potions like popcorn lol.

BUT this build is very important for warrior
who always party up with high dmg rogue nd mage. which only few ppl does atm.

[Reggin]

I very rarely pot with proper timing of renew. I don't particularly care about the healing aspect of renew anyway, as I mainly use it for the taunt and shield aspect. The healing is just a bonus. I prefer to run with guild members so there is always a rogue and mage willing to run.

It's definitely dependent on grouping, but warriors suck solo in anything worth farming. Rogues and mages can solo jarl quickly, warriors can't. I can solo him, but it takes ages. My renew doesn't suck anyway though, as it's only a minor improvement since I'm still pure strength.

[Enisceloz]

I very rarely pot with proper timing of renew. I don't particularly care about the healing aspect of renew anyway, as I mainly use it for the taunt and shield aspect. The healing is just a bonus. I prefer to run with guild members so there is always a rogue and mage willing to run.

It's definitely dependent on grouping, but warriors suck solo in anything worth farming. Rogues and mages can solo jarl quickly, warriors can't. I can solo him, but it takes ages. My renew doesn't suck anyway though, as it's only a minor improvement since I'm still pure strength.

Except if your're farming kills lol ; )

[Motherless]

I find this passive defensive build to be rather ineffecient in terms of both personal rewards and time. I have tried the path of pure tanking, that is, applying the most amount of armor and using the most supportive and "aggro-enticing" skills a warrior possess. From my experiences, I can soundly conclude that even with 1000+ armor, being a pure tank you will not be able to support yourself or your team mates very well, especially because with high armor you sacrifice your bonus damage, the one key that allows for HoR to be most effective. Also, the cooldown for Jugg and HoR is too slow, and will make a pure tank ineffective if your build revolves around those two support skills. As for CS and AT, those skills are decent, but I would rather have mob clearing skills like windmill or S.Smash. Because lets be honest, warriors might not be so great at 1v1 dps, but in terms of mobbing, we are the best. And in many elite maps, it is absolutely crucial that you clear mobs before taking on the boss.

For a tank to be useful, they need to be fully active by dealing a decent amount of damage to mobs, and to bosses, and because of that, there is a need for warriors to focus on their damage as well. Do not disregard a warriors aggro skill when he is experienced in terms of timing certain attacks and using specific pets.

[Reggin]

Spidah... very true... useless for farming kills, hence the whole elite tank part. I certainly didn't level with this build.

Motherless... You must not understand the concept of taking or have a grasp of how taunt mechanics work. I'm not trying to do damage, nor do I need to do damage. I maintain aggro with this low damage build better than 99% of warriors with much better gear. This build can duo elite jarl with a full dps rogue without the rogue getting hit by more than 1-2 random swipes, and 0 charged hits.

I'll gladly put my build to the test against anyone when it comes to allowing a group of dps mages and/or rogues to kill stuff quick without getting killed. Have the same group run with a damage build warrior and with me and my "passive" build. It isn't passive, it's pure. Look at any real mmo out there, and the best tanks do exactly what this build is designed to do.

The heal from renew and bonus damage isn't relevant... the tank should be soaking the damage and not having to heal the dps. The use of renew in this build is to shield the whole party from big aoe attacks and to taunt... my armor, dodge, and the fact that things hit me instead of the group make the slightly weaker healing not a big deal.

This isn't a rush everything in a big pack build... the tank either pulls or walks the mobs into position then the dps comes in and kills it efficiently. Not to mention, this build saves everyone a ton of pots, both health and mana since Nexus is the main pet and he gives mana to everyone.

[Reggin]

And I don't care how skilled the warrior is... they can't defy pure math. When two rogues are going pure dps with a colton mage boosting their crit, you aren't keeping aggro with damage skills. Properly timed taunts, shields, and stuns is the only possible way.

[Enisceloz]

Spidah... very true... useless for farming kills, hence the whole elite tank part. I certainly didn't level with this build.

Motherless... You must not understand the concept of taking or have a grasp of how taunt mechanics work. I'm not trying to do damage, nor do I need to do damage. I maintain aggro with this low damage build better than 99% of warriors with much better gear. This build can duo elite jarl with a full dps rogue without the rogue getting hit by more than 1-2 random swipes, and 0 charged hits.

I'll gladly put my build to the test against anyone when it comes to allowing a group of dps mages and/or rogues to kill stuff quick without getting killed. Have the same group run with a damage build warrior and with me and my "passive" build. It isn't passive, it's pure. Look at any real mmo out there, and the best tanks do exactly what this build is designed to do.

The heal from renew and bonus damage isn't relevant... the tank should be soaking the damage and not having to heal the dps. The use of renew in this build is to shield the whole party from big aoe attacks and to taunt... my armor, dodge, and the fact that things hit me instead of the group make the slightly weaker healing not a big deal.

This isn't a rush everything in a big pack build... the tank either pulls or walks the mobs into position then the dps comes in and kills it efficiently. Not to mention, this build saves everyone a ton of pots, both health and mana since Nexus is the main pet and he gives mana to everyone.

It's all based on taste bro. We don't need your build to Tank. However yours is a Pure Tank build very useful if your're with a group of very high Dmg/DPS Sorcerers or Rogues who want to spam their attack skills. With your timed Taunts you can continue taking aggro back from them while keeping them save. HOWEVER if you do have a group (Sorcerers and Rogues) who can time their attack skills (and don't steal your aggro), then all you would need is one or two skills with Taunts (I have one, HoR and I can tank successfully). The only advantage of your party will be that an Elite boss will get killed just a little bit faster seeing that Sorcerers and Rogue can spam their attack skills. But like you have agreed your build is pretty stale when it comes to doing everything else. Don't get me wrong is yet another build that is effective and you have explained it pretty well for anyone who is having trouble playing as a Warrior, to read and follow!

[Reggin]

Yeah... I do like your rush in and just attack everything style... it's definitely fun... but I can't imagine how much you spend on pots like that... plus, I like being different... and if only I had some friends who wanted to do some speed runs... I want on the leader board, but you can't get there solo...

[Enisceloz]

When I run with you guys I hardly spend pots. But I also do a lot of Watchers 4 with PUG's, I've had horrible groups where I spent atleast 100+ pots a run to keep myself from dying lol. Like I said it all depends on who's in your party and how they play, no matter what build you choose to go with.

[Reggin]

LOL... when you run with me you don't use pots cuz I'm the one soaking all the damage haha!

[Cronaldo777]

No offence but I trust Kenoon's tank build better.Go to tank123 explanations.

[Reggin]

LULz at any "tank" build with windmill... Great for damage warriors, but clearly no place in a pure tank build...

[Wizard_Mike]

No offence but I trust Kenoon's tank build better.Go to tank123 explanations.
What you should be doing is trying each build for yourself, rather than simply trusting one over the other without any personal testing.

I've tried several different builds, both before and after the level cap was raised, and I always came back to the four-taunt build. Mine is slightly different in point distribution, but the key is having a taunt on every skill button. Just remember that this build is strictly about holding aggro, not about speed killing. If your main goal is to hold aggro and keep your teammates safe, then give this build a try. You might be surprised.

[Reggin]

Exactly wizard! I sacrifice mediocre damage for poor damage so that I can hold the best possible aggro. This allows my party of dps (I'm the only warrior in the group 95% of the time) to go all out with their extremely high dps and kill stuff quickly. With a warrior that can't hold aggro with dps going all out, the dps has to scale back their damage in fear of getting aggro and dying. The added dps from 3 high damage characters going all out versus going 75% is far more than I could come close to putting out regardless of my build or gear.

[Kenoon]

Actually in my opinion, having Chest Splitter, Axe Throw & Horn of Renew is sufficient enough to do taunt skills rotation.

I did ever thought of using Chest Splitter, Axe Throw, Vengeful Blood & Horn of Renew since my personal playstyle would be the dual buff and regen. The downside is, we can't use it for training.
You won't be surprise that this setup allows you to maintain consistent aggro too.

As usual, charged Vengeful Blood gives critical rate boost which increase your Damage output, increases Str to increase damage, damage bonus, health bonus and active mana regen. The advantage of this buff makes me reluctant to give up this skill though..

So at every level cap, i believe tank warriors would resort to respec their skill points again once they reach the the max character level in order to be effective in tanking. Leveling wise, we will just run the usual dps skills.

Juggernaut in my opinion is meant more for PVP. Most likely developer won't reduce it's cooldown or by alot since that will make Warrior class become overpowered in PVP.

[Wizard_Mike]

Juggernaut in my opinion is meant more for PVP. Most likely developer won't reduce it's cooldown or by alot since that will make Warrior class become overpowered in PVP.

Yeah, that taunt upgrade just screams PvP. :p

On a serious note, it can be useful for both. The upgrade that removes movement imparting effects definitely sounds like something meant for PvP, especially for capture the flag type games when your the flag carrier. Also, I don't know if this only removes movement impairing effects once, or if it keeps them off for the full 15 seconds of the buff. If it's just once, then this will be an absolutely horrible PvP skill for a 45 second cooldown. If it's the whole time, then yeah, it will be absolutely overpowered.

But with 4/5, it increases health, reduces damage taken, gives a chance to proc a heal if you drop to low, and taunts multiple times throughout the duration of the buff. If that isn't a clear PvE tank skill, I don't know what is. This is the skill you bust out when your team gets overly swarmed and you need to get all the monsters in the room to focus on you before they slaughter your team while giving you the defenses to handle it. It's an awesome tool for tanking. I just wish I could use it more often.

[Reggin]

Keen... How exactly does an AOE taunt have any use in PVP? If anything, juggernaut would be the first thing eliminated from my pvp build.

The 20% damage reduction is nice, but if you've played pvp in any sts games that isn't that huge of a deal considering how everything is so burst focused. Same deal with the 50% chance to heal below 25%. An aimed shot crit would likely kill you in one shot and not give it a chance to proc.

The whole value in a pve setting is that pve damage is extremely predictable. The only burst damage is a painfully obvious wind up attack.

In pvp, the shield from renew would be much better since it negates ALL damage. Time it to avoid the initial burst, and you may have a shot. In pvp, control and stuns are far more useful than an aoe taunt tank skill!

[Wizard_Mike]

Also, I think it's worth mentioning: transitioning to a four-taunt build is likely very difficult for players not used to it. Not only are you giving up damage (and mana regen, if you're replacing veng), but your gameplay style needs to change dramatically. If you go in to a boss and use your skills each time they are off cooldown like you do with other builds, then you'll likely get poor results. As stated by Reggin, you're basically just doing normal attacks (I always go with charged normal attacks) and saving those taunt skills for when the boss turns around to attack that rogue that just Crit for some huge amount.

Maintaining constant aggro is spotty right now, so what this setup does is bring four ways to taunt the boss back on to you. You simply hold on to those taunts for when the boss looks away, rather than trying to out-aggro the rest of your team.

If anyone ever played WoW (it's simply the most popular example) as a warrior tank, just think of how the Taunt ability worked. When you use it, the target is forced to focus on you for x amount of time. If the target is already focused on you then using Taunt does nothing. I'm not saying that this is how it works in Arcane Legends, but if you use them in that way it works great. Only use your skills when the boss tries to turn around. With four taunt skills and only using them when you need them, you'll always have one available.

There's no way the best geared warrior will ever out aggro the best geared rogue or sorcerer forever. They are going to get some lucky crits and cause that boss to turn around at some point. This build simply simply provides the tools to handle that, meaning with good positioning and proper use of skills, none of the DPS should never have to throttle their damage nor ever worry about being hit by the boss directly (they will need to pay attention to AoE/environment damage, of course).

It's a much different play style than other builds, so it would definitely take getting used to. But it's very effective at what it does and doesn't rely on things the tank can't really control (DPS throttling, lucky/unlucky crits, etc).

[Reggin]

Couldn't have said it better myself. I personally don't use charged attacks because I want constant hits in after a taunt and sword with shield is actually decently quick.

And while both wizard and I suggest not using skills when you have aggro, use common sense. If all your taunts are available and you have aggro, go ahead and pop off an axe throw to reduce armor and up total party dps.

If you need to shield everyone from an aeo wind up, use renew. However, if you have aggro, don't bother using skills to put out weak damage because if someone pulls a few lucky crits and you have no taunts, your dps likely die.

Taunt definitely gives you aggro, but unlike wow it doesn't guarantee it for a period of time. If STS would make taunt last 1 second each time, warriors would be perfect from a tanking standpoint.

[Kenoon]

Keen... How exactly does an AOE taunt have any use in PVP? If anything, juggernaut would be the first thing eliminated from my pvp build.

The 20% damage reduction is nice, but if you've played pvp in any sts games that isn't that huge of a deal considering how everything is so burst focused. Same deal with the 50% chance to heal below 25%. An aimed shot crit would likely kill you in one shot and not give it a chance to proc.

The whole value in a pve setting is that pve damage is extremely predictable. The only burst damage is a painfully obvious wind up attack.

In pvp, the shield from renew would be much better since it negates ALL damage. Time it to avoid the initial burst, and you may have a shot. In pvp, control and stuns are far more useful than an aoe taunt tank skill!


HOR shields 2 sec, health regen buys time for you to run away if you're playing capturing of flag.
For quick boost of survival, Juggernaut removes the abnormal status immediately and reduces damage you receive.
Gives you health recovery and chance of self heal if the condition is triggered.
This skill is able to buy some time for acute escape while your team mates trying to stop your enemies from taking you down while you are running away with their flag.

Under PVP, of course i won't be blind to place a point on taunting effect in this case, isn't it? :stupid:

[Reggin]

20% isn't going to cut it, nor is the chance of a heal, when a mage and a rogue rush you. That's when you need a stun or a way to kill them. For pvp, a damage warrior with a great horn of renew heal will be more effective than juggernaut.

Maybe when pvp comes out someone will prove me wrong, but for right now I believe juggernaut is a great pve tank tool and nothing more. For pvp I want vengeful, renew, axe throw and whirlwind (for the snare mostly).

[Kenoon]

I would say depends on the warrior's objective and role.
If the warrior is playing as a runner, he would be using Shiloh for movement speed & damage reduction, Durable & Might Passive.
Skills he would use will most likely be Skyward smash for escaping hopping, HoR for survival, Windmill to root opponents during escape OR Vengeful blood for boost in health (most likely to use windmill), and Juggernaut for escaping since this is Warrior's only skill that removes abnormal status.

Moreover we have not seen the future potential of Sword & Shield proc effect.
At the moment what we have is only ice armor.

Damage we seen so far from PVE are amazing.
Under normal standard MMORPG PVP, players damage would normally be reduced down by certain percentage.

If this rule does comes into play under AL, many players would be disgusted by Warrior's tankiness and the lame runner build.
It would just piss people off lol..

[Reggin]

If sts allows pets in pvp, it would be the biggest epic fail of all time. Also, hopping away with ss likely won't work since it tends to hop towards enemies if they are in range, not away. Sure if you use it to put distance when they are already out of range, then that works.

As far as a tank build for pure flag running, that could work. However, the build wouldn't be of much use in actually fighting other players. I'd personally rather go for a build that can kill the opponent then run with the flag.

Honestly, I think strength mages are going to be the godly flag runners with specific builds. So many stuns and roots. I'm thinking shield, gale, fireball, ice will be nasty. Heal would be nice, but it's pathetic with a pure strength build.

[Kenoon]

What to do. The achievement goes by number of flags captured & players killed.

[Arsies]

Currently testing your build with one change: max Axe to add 15% damage to hole group and cut heal from Jugg instead, which could be compensate with Pots.

Am running with 1030 Armor and around 100dps.

Works fine and rogues are happy so far ;)

[Reggin]

The 15% axe throw addition should only boost the damage of axe throw, otherwise that would be a definite inclusion. I personally like the heal from jugg as it lets me float a lower percentage of health for a longer period of time, but glad it's working for you. I think the biggest thing is having those four taunts and adjusting play style to actually function like a traditional tank instead of trying to be a hybrid dps tank. It takes getting used to, but the end result is that you will hold aggro better than any other build simply because you have more chances to taunt.

[Aeoros]

I'm a rogue and I can from experience that this build is awesome. I've been on elites with Ugg before and he's in my all-time top 3 tanks. There's no point going for DPS as a Warrior, because that'll never come close to what Rogues and Mages can do, so you're better off tanking so the DPS doesnt have to waste time repositioning.

One thing that's underestimated and underappreciated is the timing of when to use each skill. I can say it's alot harder to be a good tank than it is to be a good DPS.

[Crystalite]

Thank you very much for sharing this build, I just started trying this build and so far I have to say I am quite impressed with it! :)

I have always been interested in the threat generation mechanics in this game, and you look like you enjoy paying attention to such details as well. May I ask, if you or anyone else here reading this, have experienced a similar situation to mine? That is, I notice at times that each of these four of the skills with threat modifier/or 'taunt' skill if you like, are not really '100% taunts'. This means that when used, the target may not always focus its attention on you. Since I was the only warrior in the group, so i assume the only reasons are:
(a) My eyes are playing a trick on me and what i saw was wrong,
(b) either all or some of these four skills add a fixed amount of threat but does not give you agro directly. Meaning to say, if after said skill is used (you get +x amt of threat when used) and your threat level is higher(however the system calculates this), you get the agro. But if a rogue has higher threat level, you will not get agro. This suggests that the good tank will need to be diligent at spamming auto-attacks (with your build) so as to continue to generate threat to keep on par with rest of party members.
(c) either all or some of these four skills are a direct taunt - meaning once used they do not add a fixed amount of threat, but directly grants the warrior the attention of the target. However, these skills has a chance to fail. E.g. Like maybe targets has a dodge rating and so your skills may 'miss'. (i am just throwing out ideas here)Which would explain why sometimes the mobs focus on me, and sometimes they don't.
(d) some other explanation I have not considered

If anyone else has a similar experience, pls let me know. Otherwise I suppose I am gravely mistaken in my observations. :(

Anyway thanks again for sharing this build. :D

[Iaceden]

This build is working great for me. One question... Where did you put your last 5 skill points? I'm guessing durable or might? Thanks a lot this build rocks.

[Reggin]

Thanks for the complement aeor... don't think I'm that great, just that I don't suck... the biggest challenge is lag and in PUGs other warriors who go for a dps build and include taunts with it. I've got a dps build I use for leveling, but I don't include any taunt abilities... wish other warriors focused on dps would do that if they plan on running with a tank... the way I see it is you can't be both.

As far as the bulk of questions after your post (sorry, don't remember your handle and haven't had my coffee yet), it's impossible to truly know without a developer chiming in. I can say for sure that Axe Throw guarantees that you'll get aggro, thus making it a true taunt. My personal belief is that all taunts work this way, it's just possible that they can be dodged or missed. It's also possible that due to native lag based on ping time, your taunt will go off but a millisecond later the rogue hits with an auto attack crit that immediately steals aggro back.

Of all the complaining people do about warriors, I think a lot of it is misplaced. My only complaint/suggestion would be to modify the taunt mechanic to account for lag and allow real strategic tanking by making all taunts guarantee aggro for a specific amount of time. I think 1 second would be the perfect amount of time.

STS has an opportunity to make AL the mobile equivalent of a real mmo if it can get the true tank mechanics down. In any real mmo, end game content will one shot anything other than a tank, which is how it should be. Teamwork and a skilled tank should be vital to beating the toughest mmo content. If STS made it possible for a tank to maintain aggro effectively in a way that compensates for lag, it would be on this path.

To use wow as an example (just due to its popularity). A tank always focuses on health, armor, dodge, and hit. Reason being damage isn't important but staying alive so everyone doesn't wipe is. Hit is important because a missed taunt can often mean a wipe.

I also really wish they would let us buy dual spec options... Can't be that hard since it exists in PL. This would allow a group that has too many warriors in it to still play. If I see another tank in a group, I can switch to mediocre damage gear and my alternate dps spec. This is also critical for pvp builds. I personally would like to see the option of having 3 specs, and I'd gladly pay 50 plat each character to buy the extra spec.

[Reggin]

Might... durable is garbage at this point... 5 points gets you 5% armor... which at 1000 armor only gives you an extra 50 armor. Maybe at level 50 it will be worth something, but until then not a chance!

[Enisceloz]

Thank you very much for sharing this build, I just started trying this build and so far I have to say I am quite impressed with it! :)

I have always been interested in the threat generation mechanics in this game, and you look like you enjoy paying attention to such details as well. May I ask, if you or anyone else here reading this, have experienced a similar situation to mine? That is, I notice at times that each of these four of the skills with threat modifier/or 'taunt' skill if you like, are not really '100% taunts'. This means that when used, the target may not always focus its attention on you. Since I was the only warrior in the group, so i assume the only reasons are:
(a) My eyes are playing a trick on me and what i saw was wrong,
(b) either all or some of these four skills add a fixed amount of threat but does not give you agro directly. Meaning to say, if after said skill is used (you get +x amt of threat when used) and your threat level is higher(however the system calculates this), you get the agro. But if a rogue has higher threat level, you will not get agro. This suggests that the good tank will need to be diligent at spamming auto-attacks (with your build) so as to continue to generate threat to keep on par with rest of party members.
(c) either all or some of these four skills are a direct taunt - meaning once used they do not add a fixed amount of threat, but directly grants the warrior the attention of the target. However, these skills has a chance to fail. E.g. Like maybe targets has a dodge rating and so your skills may 'miss'. (i am just throwing out ideas here)Which would explain why sometimes the mobs focus on me, and sometimes they don't.
(d) some other explanation I have not considered

If anyone else has a similar experience, pls let me know. Otherwise I suppose I am gravely mistaken in my observations. :(

Anyway thanks again for sharing this build. :D

I have only one Taunt skill (taunt on HoR) and of course it's and AoE taunt and your observation is correct. Before engaging a mob I usually run right into the middle while charging HoR to Taunt as many enemies as possible before the rest of the party gets to them. And there's two factors here. 1) When an enemy sees you they immediately turn your attention to you 2) When you succesfully taunt, they get a big red exclamation mark on their head. So sometimes if you look closely and are the first one to engage a mob and you taunt with HoR one or two don't get taunted (get an exclamation mark on their head), so I believe your taunt could miss. Or you aren't scary looking enough to taunt hahaha!!!!

[Wizard_Mike]

Might... durable is garbage at this point... 5 points gets you 5% armor... which at 1000 armor only gives you an extra 50 armor. Maybe at level 50 it will be worth something, but until then not a chance!
Here's a post from a dev that explains the armor passive in detail.

http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?79866-How-does-armor-work&p=902905&viewfull=1#post902905

In his example, at level 21 with 980 armor, 4/5 in the armor passive adds 1.9% damage reduction. That may not be big enough to justify those points at our current armor levels, but that's still not too shabby.


Edit:
Calculating this out for my own current armor shows the difference with using 5/5 durability as being 2%.

848*.00047619= 40.4% damage reduction
(848*1.05)*.00047619= 42.4% damage reduction


Also something to take away from this is that since we are given this info, we can calculate that roughly 22 armor = 1% damage reduction at level 21.

[Crystalite]

I have only one Taunt skill (taunt on HoR) and of course it's and AoE taunt and your observation is correct. Before engaging a mob I usually run right into the middle while charging HoR to Taunt as many enemies as possible before the rest of the party gets to them. And there's two factors here. 1) When an enemy sees you they immediately turn your attention to you 2) When you succesfully taunt, they get a big red exclamation mark on their head. So sometimes if you look closely and are the first one to engage a mob and you taunt with HoR one or two don't get taunted (get an exclamation mark on their head), so I believe your taunt could miss. Or you aren't scary looking enough to taunt hahaha!!!!

Lol! Thanks Spidah and Reggin. Good to know that I'm not the only one with taunts occasionally not going off as intended. :)
And yes, I guess you're right Reggin. Lag could be a contributing factor here. I too hope STS would develop the warrior class and taunt/armor reduction mechanics further, such that a warrior is not just another dps member of the party, but an essential tank component of a boss fight.

On the other hand, this being a mobile mmo, might be that they would prefer not to make the game too complicated for younger players to handle, etc. I think their philosophy is for the game to be a quick 5-10min thing. But i notice that with e dead city update, mobs hit a lot harder relative than before, so I believe they are willing to constantly tweak the game. :)

Would be interesting if there is a dual-spec option! And how this might tie in with rogue and sorc alternative bow and gun alternatives, which atm isn't too great.

[Szangheili]

Honestly, I have to thank you for this awesome guide. I honestly am still new to MMO's and the only other MMO game I ever played was SL. And even there I was never a tank, I was an engi, sort of like a sorcerer here. Was used to healing and staying behind while still dealing some damage. So I wanted to change that here and decided to go Warrior to try out tanking. But my build was, like you stated, based on damage. But I'll totally try this out now, but your guide is based for guild runs, or at least a full party. I honestly play with lots of randoms... I should be looking for a good guild to join but I guess lots of the "Elite" ones aren't recruiting.. I'll probably still try this out, but in the meantime ill be looking for a guild as well.

[Szangheili]

I have this exact build, and to be honest I like it. I have decent armor, DPS, and health, but I am not capped. I am only Lvl 19, and tbh this build is perfect with at least one more warrior with a similar build as yours. Why? Because when the rest of your party is attacking the enemy, you will honestly need one more tank to take up the aggro for you so you can heal yourself and then go back to damage taking for him and technically keep taking turns. If you think you can handle all the mobs attacking you, I say good luck...

[Reggin]

I don't think another warrior is needed, as long as you have pots and pull smart. Juggernaut is good for the big pulls, and renew when properly timed is quite godly.

I actually changed up my gear a bit... lost about 45 armor but gained 300 health and 4% dodge. Sitting just under 3k health with 920 armor and 11.5% dodge.

I'm liking the new setup... dodge is pretty beast for a tank, since it is a direct cancelling of all damage. 10% dodge means you take 10% less damage, and a dodged big hit is incredible.

Pretty sure I'm going to be focusing on armor health and dodge only going forward. My dps is about 78. If STS actually makes the taunt mechanic slightly better (my suggestion would be to guarantee aggro for 1 second) this build would be perfect for the intended goal I had when making it.

[Szangheili]

Now that I'm a Lvl 20 with the right gear for this build, I agree. I started using this build a bit too early which was why I need the extra warrior help, but now I think I can handle it. :)

[Reggin]

The only annoying thing about my build is the reliance on a team... it's terrible for grinding kills and leveling. Also, playing with random people who have never seen anything other than a charge and spam warrior is frustrating.

Since you literally do pathetic damage, you need your team to be efficient in rapidly killing things and prioritizing targets (mages and archers first) or despite the tank survivability you are going to burn a ton of pots.

However, if you are a warrior who has three skilled high dps friends (I prefer 2 rogues and a mage), run with them and you'll see the best example of how this build can shine.

I'd be curious to see how some of the high damage warriors fair with this build, as additional damage wouldn't hurt... I wonder if the added damage would help aggro enough to ditch cs in favor of either vengeance or war horn... since new bosses are immune to the interrupt, I'm debating giving up that addition and just keeping for the taunt.

[Wizard_Mike]

since new bosses are immune to the interrupt, I'm debating giving up that addition and just keeping for the taunt.

I still find the interrupt pretty useful, though. Some of the trash in the later levels have some pretty strong windups that can really hurt your team if they happen to be caught in a tight area. Plus it's nice to be able to interrupt 2-3 mages at a time when they are tucked together.

But regardless, jarl is still the quickest elite loot run and he can still be interrupted. CS makes that fight cake. Heck, with interrupts you don't even have to worry about positioning outside of pulling him away from the goblins in the back. Easy mode, heh.

[Wizard_Mike]

I personally don't use charged attacks because I want constant hits in after a taunt and sword with shield is actually decently quick.

I've been meaning to dig more into this, but kept forgetting.

Have you, or anyone else, tested to see if there is any difference in holding aggro between using all charged versus all non-charged normal attacks? I know when fighting packs of trash it's better to go with charged, because it deals AoE damage, rather than just hitting a single target. I noticed a big improvement in my ability to hold aggro on packs when I started charging my normal attacks.

But I don't know if there would be any diffence on bosses. A charged attack hits for more damage, of course, but non-charged attacks (with sword & board) are really quick. I older which would generate more APS (aggro per second... Can I coin that? Lol).

Also, charged attacks have a small chance to stun. I'm going to assume this doesn't work on bosses, but I haven't fully tested this out yet. It's a simple one to test, so I plan on doing so, but I figured I would bring it up in case anyone could chime in on it.

[Reggin]

Yeah... packs are another story... but as far as pure damage on a single target, those multi quick hits for less damage end up hitting for more than the charged hit that takes the same amount of time. I'm pretty much referring to bosses, as those are the ones most likely to wipe a party as long as the pulls are done intelligently.

[grunt226]

thank you ugg for the right up! very informative. question regarding weapon choices. with a build such as yours, I would imagine you would prefer a weapon with a support proc or debug opposed to damage. what would you prefer? the 25% armor defuff, ice armor proc or str/hp regen buff?

btw, respecced my tank based off your build and maintaining aggro has essentially became child's play. it does help that I have a lot of previous tanking experience ( MT for a top alliance guild in wow from bc thru cata)

I have been playing a rogue and sorcerer primarily in AL but recently decided to roll a tank because I was getting very frustrated with the lack of quality tanks in this game... and your guide has definitely clarified a lot for me... it's surprising that sts left out vital information for certain skills ie... I didn't realize that cs had a built in taunt, nor that jugg has a continuance taunt etc...

again, much appreciation for your time and sharing your information. I'm sure the community will appreciate it as well, as it will undoubtedly lead to more quality and informed tanks coming down the pipeline.

[Reggin]

I was a horde MT in an end game raid guild years ago lol... I personally prefer the sword and board... the armor from it is constant regardless of the proc. However, the proc isn't exactly bad. I'd still use it even if it had no proc though.

[Szangheili]

Use flapjack as a pet with this build. Thank me later.

[kiratdeluxe]

anyone use rally cry ?

[Reggin]

Flap Jack is my #2 option with Nexus being #1.

Nexus gives 15 str, 10 dex (.5% dodge), 2 mps, 1% less damage. His arcane is what makes him godly, as it restores mana to the whole party. It gives over 150 mana, which means it's boosting mps for all by about 25 mps.

Flap Jack is great for enemies that can be stunned, but if you have a super high dps rogue that has you taunting like crazy he won't keep up with the rate you spend mana. Nexus means 0 pots used for mana for the tank and a lot less for rogues in the party.

[Szangheili]

Hmm. I don't have nexus although I will probably buy him with plat really soon.i keep hearing that hes such a great pet..

[Reggin]

He's plat only, but only buy if you've got the plat to spare. His passive attack is an aoe that has a chance to reduce enemy damage and crit by 5%. For a pure tank that wants mana, he's the perfect pet in my opinion.

[Reggin]

I've had a request for my skill cycle, so I thought I'd post it here for those who are interested.

Grinding Cycle (Tombs or areas with tons of mobs)

Before running to gather mobs, I'll use jugg for the repeating aoe taunt. Once gathered and in place, I'll pop renew and basically spam charged auto attacks and regular chest splitter. Losing aggro to a single mob won't kill the rogue or mage so holding taunts isn't needed. The main goal is to neatly group them in this situation.

Elite Cycle

For elites I'll get into position where the pack can face me and allow my team to get behind it without aggroing another pack. I'll open with axe throw then either renew if it's a small pack for aggro or jugg and renew if it's a big pack. I'll then auto attack (charged or not depending on size). I'll chest splitter if a mob changes to someone else and pretty much spam renew.

Elite Boss Cycle

This is what the build was designed for. I'll get into position and pull with axe throw. I'll immediately jugg so the repeated taunts maintain aggro as the party starts dps. Auto attack non charged spam comes next. Depending on the boss, I'll keep renew available at all times to shield the party from aoe wind up attacks (which lets them continue dps without slowing down). At any given time, I make sure to have two taunts available. I prefer to keep axe throw available cuz it's amazing, but if I have aggro and all other skills available I'll use a charged axe throw to reduce armor and possibly stun. The second a boss turns, I'll use chest splitter to taunt. If I lose aggro again immediately, I'll axe throw. If I'm still losing aggro repeatedly (often due to stacked aim shots), I'll juggernaut and go into spamming cs. When jugg is going, I will only use cs to save at and renew to use during the 30 second cooldown where it's not active. During that 15 seconds it's active, timing cs to go between the jugg taunts means an active taunt every 1.5 seconds which is extremely hard for even a top rogue to steal aggro from. The big thing is that while you have aggro, don't use skills at all. Learn how the taunts work and be prepared to improvise based on need. One big thing is learn to position bosses so you can easily see the second they turn and all dps should group together behind it. This will make timing your taunts a lot easier.

[Ashanto]

I think your build is only good for lower gear or it depends on how someone plays. I play with top damage gear with a semi tank build and I have never died since reaching 21 or had someone pull agro more than 1-2 secs. I also never buy pots as I have zero need

Stats:
STR 303
Bonus DMG 252%
HP 3354
DMG 123.3
DEX/Dodge/Crit 42/5.12%/9.05%
INT/MP 16/260
DPS 138.7
Armor 856

With Mighty Vorp of Assault, crit procs to 102% multiple times during fight which increases threat massively and procs often

Build with Nexus:
Full STR
Sky 1/2/3 the stun is great for mitigating damage
Chest 1/4
Venge 1/2/3/4
Horn 3/4 1 only increases healing to 8 meters. We are not healers and 3 adds taunt at 8 meters already. 2 is a wate, only adds 250 HP over the additional 1.5 sec heal, Venge offsets that when charged by boosting HP by 250 plus adding damage
Final 5 points in Might Passive for DPS/HP

From my experience the high crit causes awesome threat in white damage and chest splitter. I almost never have to rely on Horn, only use it to gain start threat and self heals. The low INT isn't even noticed because of Venge.

I use Ribbit over Nexus for the additional crit and the reducing enemy damage.

I even have room for improvement since my sword is level 20, level 21 only adds 4.3 DPS and 10HP. And Demonlord Helm of Will can add 31 Armor 130 MP and 9 HP at a small loss of base crit/dodge.

[Reggin]

I've said it many times... a damage build isn't bad if that's the play style you like. However, I can tell you right now that you either don't play with high damage rogues or they are majorly holding back their dps. A warrior simply can't do more damage than a rogue no matter what they do, so maintaining threat without taunts isn't possible.

My build isn't designed for low gear, as I've had tons of positive feedback from people who have better gear than me. It's based on maximizing the skills that benefit the defined role of a tank. Tanks don't need to do damage by definition! They simply need to hold aggro. I can guarantee you that your gear and build doesn't hold aggro better than mine, and I'd be happy to prove it in game. You and me do jarl, and see who keeps the aggro... I'll bet you 100k gold if you honestly want to try to back up your claim and put your money where your mouth is...

[Ashanto]

I dont know about the gold part. But as a huge fan of MMO's I would love to test the build out against your build for maximizing sake :D

[Reggin]

Awwww... not willing to back it up then it isn't worth my time to prove it. You'll notice there are a lot of positive comments from people who actually try the build instead of just knocking it based on their own perception. The difference is that I've used the competing builds to level and owned the damage gear at level 16 before deciding to sell it in favor of pure tank gear.

I've tanked with both the common ss, cs/ww, vb, hor build and I can tell you with 100% certainty that the four taunt build holds aggro and soaks damage better. I'm so certain that I'll put my money where my mouth is... anyone care to take me up on it?

[Ashanto]

The only problem I see is that you may be on overkill with so much taunt. I've used both builds and find that I can use 2 taunts with top gear for DPS and Armor and still maintain control. The max you use in Horn is wasted points. You should never have to worry about healing max range of 8M instead of 6M and a 25% increase in skill time is only 250HP. Mages are usually out of range of boss AOE so taking no damage and rogues are within 6M so they are shielded incase your Chest Splitter doesn't interrupt the bosses attack.

I actually am interested in possibly swapping out Sky Smash for Axe Throw. That would drop AOE damage from Smash but add a high threat/taunt to boss fights. I like that Axe can also drag annoying mages and archers within range.

[Reggin]

The increased duration from renew adds not just one extra heal tick (which I don't use for the heal anyway) but it makes the shield last 2.5 seconds instead of 2.

The range increase is there specifically because if someone does pull aggro and they are a glass cannon the instinct is to run away. The extra range is great for making sure they get the needed shield.

I guess you can reduce the range buff if you wanted, but I personally have tried it with both and like the range (especially since it's a radius buff not a diameter buff). There is no way I'd give up the duration though, as a half second of total immunity to the whole party is phenomenal.

It's not overkill... I promise... with maxed rogues going all out dps it is even hard to maintain aggro sometimes with my build, and impossible with less taunts. If they rework the taunt mechanic to guarantee aggro for 1 second, I would contemplate a change. Actually, even then I wouldn't as each taunt is different and has a very specific use in my play style.

[Crystalite]

I wish we could discuss alternative builds more amiably on these forums without having to resort to challenges instinctively. :( We are here to learn from one another after all. :P

I like how both of you make sme interesting points though: I kind of agree with Ashanto's point on healing range of horn of renew. In either pugs or regular groups, I find rogues and mages are either right beside me, too far away(mage) or quick to run out of range once the red light area appears for elite madrom. So it would appear the extra 2m upgrade for Horn of renew might not really be necessary.

On the other hand, those tanks who have ever noticed the 'non-100% success rate' of taunts in the game will realize that maybe 4 taunts are not really an overkill, since your taunts may, for whatever unexplained reasons like latency, a quick increase in threat value from dps toons right AFTER you have used a taunt, or simply current game mechanics, and WILL fail to work sometimes.

But on then on the other hand again, I am coming to the conclusion that regardless of which build u use as a warrior: dps-oriented or pure taunt build, what is important is your party's objective. E.g. If you are going for leaderboards obviously you would prefer dps-oriented for the extra dps, since dps toons can simply pot through most of the damage, which begs the question of why we need a tank for such speed runs, but that's another issue I guess. :) However, if the party's objective is to finish the run safely(this point is debatable), and with minimum use of pots(healing pots for dps toons), at the loss of timing, then you might want to use the pure taunt build. At least this is just my opinion.

Regarding finishing the run 'safely', I refer to the probability of dying on runs, for both tank and dps. With juggernaut, tank has much higher chance of surviving pulls like that group on 2nd floor: that big 'shark?'(as someone calls it) mob hits like a tank, along with those dog mobs. With more taunts, the dps toons are less likely to pull agro, or if they do, likely to have agro pulled off them. On the other hand, i have noticed that with poorly-equipped parties, fights take way too long (longer than 15sec of juggernaut) and even my tank has an issue surviving that pull. Horn of renew and juggernaut, the 2 most reliable aoe taunts, are 15sec and 30sec csd. Chest splitter alone cant handle all mobs from that pull of 9 on the 2nd floor. So in this case, from a survivability viewpoint, the quicker mobs die, the 'safer' it might be for tank and dps. But then, with less taunts dps might die more easily too. I think it depends very much on the dps toons' abilities here: e.g. Which mobs they chose to target as a rogue, whether e mage times his fireball, frostbolt and if he has it, gale, to CC the mobs. So i think it is quite debatable! Again, this is just my view. :(

[Reggin]

Only put the challenge out there for the purpose of backing up the aggro claim since he mentioned never losing aggro. Challenge is a good way to actually test the ability of each build to maintain aggro.

As far as speed goes, I'll have to respectfully disagree. The added dps of a damage build over a tank build is maybe 200 dps factoring in everything. However, take a warrior and 3 rogue example. In order for the damage build tank to maintain aggro, the rogues can likely only go 75% of their max potential.

If a rogue can do 1000 dps max, the reduced damage would be 750 dps to not pull aggro. Three rogues would be 750 dps party reduction. Adding in the extra 200 dps from the damage build would still be a 550 reduction in total dps to maintain aggro.

There is no doubt in my mind that the other suggested builds are effective and have an ability to tank in many situations, but they quite simply aren't true tank builds... they are warrior builds that can often substitute for a tank due to the naturally high armor and health of the class.

Honestly, I'd prefer a tank build that guarantees aoe aggro without fail even if it did absolutely 0 damage, simply because that's the core role of a tank.

[Ashanto]

I can totally agree in one aspect Ugg, maybe since no one knows me in game really that I dont get paired with very many highend rogues or mages.

Let me ask, is a pure tank gearing better than the best end game gear for dps? I feel my stats are better than most except for Armor.


actually, my gear would have to be 75% replaced to get INT unless i drop points from base STR for base INT to figure out a good balance from losing Venge from my rotation.

[Reggin]

I use Nexus to eliminate the need for mana from vengeful. Flap Jack is a decent alternative, but a few pots for mana would be needed.

As far as tank gear goes, it's nowhere close to the dps of damage gear. However, it adds much more survivability. At level 20 I use the agile berserker set with the sword/shield of will. For jewelry, I use the grace items that give 25 str, 10 dex, and just under 2% dodge.

The end result is slightly lower health and armor 2900 and 900 about. However, I have 11% dodge. Dodge is extremely useful when you have many things attacking you at once.

[Ashanto]

How much mana do you have in gear? I'm only at 260 since I use Venge. Also, I already have 856 Armor. How much more is needed?

[Crystalite]

True! I guess you're right regarding a test with verifiable results! Was afraid for a moment thread was going to turn into a flame war hehe. :)

Hmm i see where you are coming from regarding speed runs, i think our assumptions are different. You are assuming dps not do draw agro, while I am assuming the dps-ers are not concerned anout drawing, and a warrior is there for those elite maps with certain 'tricky' spots with particularly difficult pulls. The ability to kill fast is paramount because you are aiming for leaderboards, and the warrior is there mainly to tank the damage from some of the mobs. E.g. If all of the mobs in that particular pull were to hit the same target, that rogue will die due to insufficient hp/armor. But if the warrior can hold the attention of some of these mobs for a few sec, it is the difference between a successful pull, or having to rez. If you have ever tried with 4 rogues to achieve fastest time, you might understand what I mean when I stopped to question even the need for a warrior. But for those dps toonswho want to achieve non-leaderboard runs 'safely' and yet with a reasonably good time without pulling agro, or to be more accurate, having the tank re-take agro after they pull agro, than a pure taunt build might be an answer. But right now, imo for leaderboards, every bit of damage is important.

[Szangheili]

And this is why I regret choosing the warrior first.. I shoulda gone with Mage, honestly it's the simplest class to choose.

[Reggin]

I've got one of each class at 20 and several pvp twinks ready, but my tank warrior is by far my favorite.

[Liquid Ice]

When you are referring to tank gear, what are you referring to specifically? For the weapon it makes sense but for the helm and armor, it seems like the dps armor is the best choice for tanking armor. I'm thinking specifically of mighty berserker armor of fitness and mighty juggernaut helmet of will. They add health and armor. Can you let me know what the ideal gear is?

[Wizard_Mike]

For armor, the stuff I have m eye on are mighty berserker helm/armor of grace. Demonlord helm/armor of grace have the exact same stats as the mighty berserker of grace, but the berserker stuff is much cheaper.

[Kenoon]

I had met a malaysian guild warrior tank in the past when lvl cap was 16.
He worn all the juggernaut and berserker version armors but prefix is under Clever instead of mighty.
I think his purpose in doing so it just to stack up armor points.
He was using flapjack as his pet.
Skill build wise is similar to reggins, axe throw, hor, jugg. So i guess his 4th would be CS too.

Conclusion? :
He knows that he doesn't need damage at all since his role is just to taunt the boss.
He understands that no matter how high the damage he pushes it up, taunt > dps.
As long as his armor points are maxed out, he met his objectives.
He went flapjack and default dual buff 2h sword which is a hp and mp generator.
He doesn't require super godly thick health since his cheap gears can help him to survive as strong as the high-end gears version.
Hope this info helps for the budget players.

[Kenoon]

I had tried to respec and tested this build with my guild's mage for 2 rounds in Elite Jarl map.
Skill rotations are used in such a way i could spam and taunt once Jarl turns over to mage.
When Jarl faces the mage, i use charged taunt skill for immediate action but Jarl is still facing the mage LOL.
Juggernaut was used only up to 2 times during the Jarl fights in each run.
I am using Sword & Board as suggested in this thread's guide for faster attack.
Tried with normal attack spamming and Charged Attack scenario.
Unfortunately i wasn't able to pull aggro from him at all despite he gave me 10seconds ahead to build up my threat.


His DPS is 275.9
Damage is 153.3
Int is 305

Maybe i am doing something wrong or my gears are weak or Warrior's threat/taunt is still weaker than other classes damage as what i posted under feedback section.

[Reggin]

Ken... for CS and AT, no need to charge. Auto attack isn't charged for bosses either. I posted my stats in another thread, and it's all in the technique. AT is the bread and butter taunt, as it guarantees they face you right away. At some point if you want me to run with your mage friend and demonstrate the build I can. Just friend me in game.

[Ashanto]

Recent testing is showing that Taunts DO NOT work when a mob/boss is stunned. I don't know if this is intended or a bug. I am currently using a modified version of Uggs Tank build with 4 Taunts.

[Liquid Ice]

I'm just curious as to what your DPS is. I feel like with this build, it would be difficult for clearing mobs and would take forever to solo maps, resulting in huge dependability even for easy maps.

[grunt226]

So my tank is lvl19 been running a lot of wt for xp grind, I noticed when I switched to this build my teammates started taking noticeably less damage... I don't think I've had a single teammate die since respeccing to uggs build. Even had several people tell me that they didn't take damage more than a handful of times and that was probably due to the casters and not being able to interrupt all of them every time. Also that they were able to go full dps without the worry of getting totally beat on. Can't wait to try this in elites, so far, it has made tanking a breeze.

over 5k kills and not a single death, not sure if that's good or not, most warriors I see with my kill count have at least 50+ deaths.

[Kenoon]

Ken... for CS and AT, no need to charge. Auto attack isn't charged for bosses either. I posted my stats in another thread, and it's all in the technique. AT is the bread and butter taunt, as it guarantees they face you right away. At some point if you want me to run with your mage friend and demonstrate the build I can. Just friend me in game.

You might want to PM my guildmate Monstertongue and tell him Kenoon requested him to help you do few runs for testing.
Thank you. :)

[Kenoon]

To be frank... after several testings again....
Its the same result...

I will post my gears and stats on your that thread in terms of gear and setup in this link below:
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?81596-My-character-as-of-now

My testings done were using much stronger gears with higher strength...
I also went to buy Nexus pet for the sake of testing.
I think there are even much stronger mages and rogues compared to my guildmates.
I don't mind re-spec my stats etc as i'm a cash player and its interesting for me to understand other builds during the tests.

Yes, when i used Axe-throw, the boss turns over to me, but within split seconds, he turns back to my guild's mage after that immediately.
DPS > Warrior's taunt.


I seek for everyone's help to post on feedback forum to request developer to improve on our taunt and aggro under below's feedback thread.
Thank you!

http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?80576-Threat-output-and-tanking-capability-on-1h-warrior-weapon

[Reggin]

Yeah... taunt mechanic needs improvement, but it works ken... aeoros posted earlier when we did testing, and he is a 21 rogue with top gear. He pulls aggro often, but my timing with the build prevents him from being hit more than once or twice, and it's only a quick regular attack never the windup.

If they made taunt guarantee aggro for 1 second, I think it would be perfect. Right now there is no room for error and it requires very effective timing.

[Kenoon]

Yep. But for current moment, it is still ok to lose some aggro since all classes are able to tank few hits compared to lv16 cap.
Am under vacation mode until the next cap comes. :)

[Liquid Ice]

I tried running this build and I'm constantly loosing aggro to high DPS warriors in the 130 range. I don't think DPS can really be ignored.

[Reggin]

It can liquid... I guarantee you no warrior can hold aggro over me... 100k bet open to anyone who wants it!

[Liquid Ice]

What if the warrior has a similar build? I loose it when jugg is on cool down. And I'm constantly spamming axe, CS, and horn of renew when available and I'm always loosing it. Yes, I get it back but it's a trade off between high DPS builds. I'm wondering if Ashanto's gear is good enough in terms of a happy medium between DPS and armor/dodge.

[Reggin]

Stop spamming and start timing... spamming can't keep aggro!

[grunt226]

The skill build allows you to keep the aggro, itemizing and stat allocation allows you to stay alive... a high dps warrior with the same talent build and execution of talents will undoubtedly keep aggro slightly better, the extra dps gives a greater buffer for those times a taunt misses... but who will last longer with that aggro?

[Liquid Ice]

Stop spamming and start timing... spamming can't keep aggro!

I'm spamming because I don't have the aggro. Not because I have aggro and I'm wasting the skills. I think it comes down to a better DPS.

And as for survivability, there has to be a marginal armor/dodge. Someone can have a large armor and dodge value and maintain max health with regen from skills and such but if someone else has somewhat lower armor and dodge with higher DPS, but still has survivability without pots, it's better to have that extra DPS for threat generation. That's what I've been trying to.figure out for a while: that happy medium. That's why I'm leaning towards Ashanto's gear setup.

[Ladycandyheal]

I think your build is only good for lower gear or it depends on how someone plays. I play with top damage gear with a semi tank build and I have never died since reaching 21 or had someone pull agro more than 1-2 secs. I also never buy pots as I have zero need

Stats:
STR 303
Bonus DMG 252%
HP 3354
DMG 123.3
DEX/Dodge/Crit 42/5.12%/9.05%
INT/MP 16/260
DPS 138.7
Armor 856

With Mighty Vorp of Assault, crit procs to 102% multiple times during fight which increases threat massively and procs often

Build with Nexus:
Full STR
Sky 1/2/3 the stun is great for mitigating damage
Chest 1/4
Venge 1/2/3/4
Horn 3/4 1 only increases healing to 8 meters. We are not healers and 3 adds taunt at 8 meters already. 2 is a wate, only adds 250 HP over the additional 1.5 sec heal, Venge offsets that when charged by boosting HP by 250 plus adding damage
Final 5 points in Might Passive for DPS/HP

From my experience the high crit causes awesome threat in white damage and chest splitter. I almost never have to rely on Horn, only use it to gain start threat and self heals. The low INT isn't even noticed because of Venge.

I use Ribbit over Nexus for the additional crit and the reducing enemy damage.

I even have room for improvement since my sword is level 20, level 21 only adds 4.3 DPS and 10HP. And Demonlord Helm of Will can add 31 Armor 130 MP and 9 HP at a small loss of base crit/dodge.

Could you PM pr reply your Damage gear? Your build looks very good indeed. Would like to try it in the future.

Is your stats with Nexus or without?

[Kenoon]

Frankly speaking.... Stacking the armors doesnt really help me much as the damage i'm taking in is still alot.
In the end, i wear back all my gears and 2h weapon. My aggro gets better in this case.
Yes, timing plays a part. I get what you mean by the technique...

The moment boss turns to non-tank class, use Axe throw to taunt him back immediately....
Still the same... In split seconds.... The boss turns back to my mage due to high damage dealt to the boss which is way higher than my threat or aggro.

I hope STS will improve Warrior tanking aspect to be more efficient and tankier.
Comparing to other types of Tanking class in other MMORPG out in the market, our Warrior feels weak to be honest lol.

[Liquid Ice]

Frankly speaking.... Stacking the armors doesnt really help me much as the damage i'm taking in is still alot.
In the end, i wear back all my gears and 2h weapon. My aggro gets better in this case.
Yes, timing plays a part. I get what you mean by the technique...

The moment boss turns to non-tank class, use Axe throw to taunt him back immediately....
Still the same... In split seconds.... The boss turns back to my mage due to high damage dealt to the boss which is way higher than my threat or aggro.

I hope STS will improve Warrior tanking aspect to be more efficient and tankier.
Comparing to other types of Tanking class in other MMORPG out in the market, our Warrior feels weak to be honest lol.

I'm in the same boat as you. That's why I feel DPS cannot be totally ignored. I would like to use Ugg's skill set with Ashanto's gear. Hopefully he will reply somewhere.

[Rasittt]

I go with koko, an extra 80 armor :)

[Wizard_Mike]

After experimenting back and forth for a while, I've found that I can hold aggro much easier when using my Winterhowler, rather than my Arctic Ward. I'm using a variation of the 4-taunt build.

Sometimes I just can't get the boss to look at me no matter how many taunts I use. But when I switch to the Winterhowler, the worst that seems to ever happen is that another warrior and I get into "taunt wars" with each other. So yeah, even when using the four taunt build, DPS matters. Which I find unfortunate.

This is all tested in PUG jarl runs, btw.

[HeartlessX92]

Quick question, what gear do you use personally when your tanking for your team reggin?

[Reggin]

I've posted my exact gear in the my stats as of now thread... it's nothing spectacular... though my new favorite pet is esteban as long as I'm willing to use a ton of mana pots.

[Wizard_Mike]

I've posted my exact gear in the my stats as of now thread... it's nothing spectacular... though my new favorite pet is esteban as long as I'm willing to use a ton of mana pots.
Yeah, esteban is rather underrated for a tank. Being able to hit 20% dodge with him out is pretty nice, on top of all his other benefits.

[HeartlessX92]

I've posted my exact gear in the my stats as of now thread... it's nothing spectacular... though my new favorite pet is esteban as long as I'm willing to use a ton of mana pots.

Ah i see now, have you tested Loki by chance ? Since he isn't a unreal overpriced pet anymore

[wvhills]

IMO, all warriors should be tanks. If you want to deal damage then make a rogue.

[Reggin]

Warriors will never do what rogues can... my 20 rogue does 3x the damage of my warrior, even in damage gear with 140 dps...

[Vainkid]

Hi I'm a new warrior here. My friends are all playing dps class (Mage & rogues) I refer to the build on #1 and run through quick browse of the whole thread and notice that warrior is a good tank. May I know what gear to go for as this is my first char? Thanks

[Liquid Ice]

I am still convinced that DPS is much better at grabbing aggro than the actual taunts. I have been running this build for over a week now with about 112 DPS. I farm Jarl when I play and after numerous Jarl runs, warriors with windmill, skyward smash, and high DPS are still stealing aggro and I'll have three taunts active at once. I'm going back to the so called "DPS build" because it's holding aggro much better.

[Liquid Ice]

I went back to SS, CS, VB, and HoR and I have tosay that I'm holding aggro much better with the two taunts because I'm able to do a larger output in damage with vb and ss. I dropped all my tank gear for DPS gear and I'm still able to tank. Can anyone besides Reggin validate this build? The taunts just don't seem to put out more threat than SS or WM which I believe is broken. I would love rolling with Reggins build if it gaurenteed aggro but it doesn't seem like it can.

[Wizard_Mike]

I went back to SS, CS, VB, and HoR and I have tosay that I'm holding aggro much better with the two taunts because I'm able to do a larger output in damage with vb and ss. I dropped all my tank gear for DPS gear and I'm still able to tank. Can anyone besides Reggin validate this build? The taunts just don't seem to put out more threat than SS or WM which I believe is broken. I would love rolling with Reggins build if it gaurenteed aggro but it doesn't seem like it can.

I wonder how the four taunt build would work out with full dps gear. I hope to eventually try it out, but I just don't have the billions of gold to afford all new gear like others seem to be able to do, lol.

[Liquid Ice]

I wonder how the four taunt build would work out with full dps gear. I hope to eventually try it out, but I just don't have the billions of gold to afford all new gear like others seem to be able to do, lol.

Surprisingly, warriors with similar and even lower DPS than what I had were holding better with SS and WM. It wouldn't hurt to have higher DPS with the 4 taunts but there's something inherently wrong when a 4 taunt build cannot hold aggro.

[Reggin]

I'll test it out with you if you want it validated... add me in game... Ugg..

[Vainkid]

i agree with this. tested both build ugg and kenoon build. i find kenoon build are at least better in terms of versatile and complexity. but i still prefer WM CS, HOR, Veng, might consider replacing veng with SS

[Norbert]

Thanks for the great information! I've got a 21 sorc and 21 rogue and was curious why warriors didn't seem able to hold aggro. I knew it might be that I had to throttle my dps some, but many warriors didn't seem to even try to tank. I would see warriors running out of the mob and then back in. So I decided to build a warrior and see for myself...

I've been following this (Ugg) build as I leveled up and am now 18. (I'm curious why people say it's bad for leveling, btw?) I've actually found it's really fun to play and I enjoy tanking. In many ways it is more challenging than the dps classes which mainly spam and try to stay alive. (Well, ok, more to it than that, like being sure not to pull other mobs, etc.)

I actually enjoy doing Tower a lot more than with other classes. I can keep Mardrom over in the corner by the chests and not get pushed all over by those dang little whatsits (I hate those things!)

Best part is a little while ago a rogue said after we beat Anne, 'great tanking!'. I nearly wept. I've never gotten a 'great sorcerering' compliment.

I'll be curious to see how elite is when I get there. Thanks again for the info!

[Reggin]

Elite is a bit tougher in the sense that you shouldn't pull a whole room at a time. And you'll likely need some health pots in pugs that don't have an ideal elite no pot setup (which can be done by the way).

If you run elites with the group I like best (tank, support mage with curse and heal, a pure dps rogue, and a mostly dps rogue with health packs) you can do a full clear of anything with nobody using a single health or mana pot though.

[Sh4rK™]

Like your build :)
can you add me in game I would like to see yoi in action.

[Australian]

I started a warrior and using the below build. I wanted one AOE for damage at least so I guess this is a hybrid tank, yet my other 3 skills will still do agro etc. I wanted an aoe, Skyward smash seems to work the best for large groups of mobs. The whirlwind attack looks nice however only targets 3 mobs. The ax throw is mainly for bosses as targets 1 enemy too so heh. Let me know what you think!

>Skyward smash (aoe 6 metres)
1. Seismic slam
2. thundering hammer

>Juggernaut
1. Ignore pain
4. Bring it on

>Horn of renew
2. increased duration
3. challenge
4. protective shield

>Vengeful Blood
2. savage strikes
3. focused rage
4. adrenaline surge

[Szangheili]

I am currently using the exact same build as Reggin, but took out Jugg to add Venge. And I have to say, it works a lot better, because you can still tank it out and save money on mana pots. Honestly. I went from being super friggin poor and barely affording anything to a decent amount of money in 2 days, now I'm set for merching and only need a few more auction slots.

[Quinarius]

I'm going 5 crit passive, vengeance max. Except for duration. Whirlwind max except for snare. Slam with 10% damg and stun. Horn with duration. I effectively keep agro heal and do insane dps. I crit what seems like 50 percent of the time. Heal pet with hp Regen. Cakework. Effective pvp aswell. I highly suggest. I understand ur pure tank. But, it's no fun and users don't want to sespecpec after lvl. Plus it bad in pvp. My build is highly versatile, suits all players. And still doing best DPS possible as a war.

[Jammes]

Im using this build know my problem is should i charge Chest spliter or not What skills i should charge pls reply :)