Trailblazing Guide to Fire

Discussion in 'Oracle’s Database (Guides)' started by Soulburn32, Feb 16, 2013.

  1. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    Test Notes: All damage listed is adjusted for 0 Might for comparative purposes. Likewise, base healing is calculated based on 0 Dominance and 0 Restoration.


    NOW UPDATED FOR GU49!
    Planned updates/links:
    Immolation
    Fire DPS PVP
    Fire Tanking (General)
    Jim's Fire Tank Modding: Tier 7 Mods --- Tier 8 Mods
    Fire Tanking PVP
    Fire AM
    POWERS DESCRIPTIONS
    Immolation Tree:Immolation powers focus on calling forth fires from within yourself to affect the world around you. Specializing in this tree grants +1%Critical Attack Chance and +25Health.
    [IMG]Immolation: [Usable While Controlled] Instantly engulf yourself in flames, damaging nearby enemies.
    [Power Interactions] Inflicts Burning to nearby enemies that attack you causing damage over time.
    [Tank Role] 10% Control Resistance
    [Damage Role] Increase damage by 35% until the hit counter resets.
    Base Power Cost:200
    Any any enemy that attacks you is damaged slightly and set on fire. Immolation lasts 12 seconds.2 second cool down.
    LT's Notes: Not terribly useful for DPS. A cheap power to keep Tank health and healing buffs going. I recommend using Enflame instead.
    [IMG] Enflame: Engulf yourself in flames, damaging and knocking down nearby enemies.
    [Power Interactions] Inflicts Burning to enemies you touch causing damage over time.
    [Tank Role] 10% Control Resistance
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 35% until the hit counter resets. [Thermal Absorption] Causes Burning enemies to restore power.
    Base Damage of 7-20 plus up to 11 ticks of 3-7 while enemies stay within 7.5M
    Immolation lasts 12 seconds. Enflame also has a 12 second cool down.
    Base Power Cost: 250
    LT's Notes: Another cheap way to keep Tank buffs going. Bestows immolation, but for an extra 50 base power you get a great juggle thrown in. Excellent crowd control. It tends to spread out adds a bit, making it often followed immediately by Backdraft. Highly recommended for tanking. GU49 adds Enflame to Fire's AM.
    [IMG] Flashpoint: Scorch the immediate area, damaging and knocking down nearby enemies.
    [Power Interactions] When Immolation is active, nearby objects and enemies will burst into flame, inflicting Burning to cause damage over time.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 35% until the hit counter resets.
    Base Power Cost: 200
    14-27 base damage in a short range area around you.
    LT's Notes: This is a great juggle power-- it knocks enemies up without spreading them out too much. Even better, if you have immolation going from Immolation (or from Enflame if you've been paying attention) this lights all nearby enemies on fire (always a good thing).
    [IMG]Meteor: Grants Meteor and Meteor Strike to create a burning meteor to throw or plummet down and damage enemies.
    [Power Interactions] Inflicts Burning to cause damage over time.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 35% until the hit counter resets.
    Base Power Cost: 250
    LT's Notes: Gain two abilities when using this power.
    Meteor: summons a meteor that you can use as a weapon. The meteor takes about 1 second to summon, and lasts about 10 seconds after being summoned. While you're holding it you lose access to your power bar (even usable while controlled powers) and enemies in melee range are lit on fire for 12 ticks of burning. During that time you can use it as a melee weapon to bash opponents up to two times for precision and might independent weaponized damage or throw it for 62-70 base damage (might based) in an AOE. The Super Strength and Neo Venom Boost Iconic powers increases your melee damage with the meteor but does not affect damage when thrown. GU47 caused weaponization damage (melee bashing with the meteor) to scale with CR, but I haven't had time to test it thoroughly.
    Meteor Strike: hits a fairly large area at extreme range for 19-28 base damage. Targets struck are lit on fire for the usual 12 ticks of burning. Meteor Strike has a longer range then Meteor does when thrown, does a decent crowd control (knockdown) and sets enemies on fire cheaply.
    [IMG]Volcanic Calamity: [50% Supercharge Cost] Surround your enemies with a ring of volcanic fire, rooting, stunning and causing a devastating explosion.
    LT's Notes: Hits for 4 ticks of damage, the first of which does 56-63 base damage and is NOT WM crit excluded. So always try to make this a finisher to a WM combo. Preferably a long one. Preferably after you've activated all your might trinkets too. The remaining three ticks hit for a respectable 28-47 base damage.
    [IMG] Reignition: [Usable While Controlled] [25% Supercharge Cost] Ignite nearby enemies, damaging and knocking them down while healing yourself instantly.
    [Power Interactions] Inflicts Burning to cause damage over time.
    Heals for 150-180 base healing
    LT's Notes: Super Cheap Super Charge. Heals about 150 base hp on use. Plus it juggles. Plus it lights things on fire-- and you know we love lighting things on fire.
    [IMG] Burnout: [Usable While Controlled] Explode with thermal energy, knocking enemies away from you. The intense heat heals you for a small amount, and bestows resistance to control effects for a short time.
    [Tank Role] Provides immunity to control effects and removes control debuffs to you and up to 7 teammates.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 45% until the hit counter resets.
    Base Power Cost: 300
    62-72 base healing
    LT's Notes: Burst heal on use. But more importantly, this power provides a breakout for you and your team mates. If they're stunned, trapped or knocked down, they'll instantly recover. And so will you. Many tanks run with two or even 3 breakouts. If you run with only one, choose Burning Determination instead. Burnout knocks foes back but does no damage and does not inflict burning.
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  2. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    [IMG] Fiery Weapon: Ignite your weapon, increasing your Might, critical strike chance and critical strike damage. Adds +15% MIght, +7% Critical Attack Chance and +10% Critical Attack Damage
    [Power Interactions] Striking a Burning enemy may deal damage and provide a healing effect
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 45% until the hit counter resets. [Thermal Absorption] Causes Burning enemies to restore power.
    Base Power Cost: 250
    12 second cool down, during which fiery weapon is active the entire time. About 1 in 10 weapon or power attacks cause fiery weapon to proc 17-27 base damage or a 30-78 base heal.
    LT's Notes: This is a MUST HAVE in any DPS load out. Can clip most power and weapon attacks. No longer procs for extra damage hits.

    [IMG]Overheat: Scald your target and nearby enemies, dealing damage over time.
    [Power Interactions] When Immolation is active, your target takes extra damage and receive a small heal [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 45% until the hit counter resets.
    Base Power Cost: 300
    5-11 x8 base damage (11-17 + 7 ticks of 5-11 with Immolation)
    77-82 base healing when Immolation is active. Overheat has a 10 second cool down.
    LT's Notes: Damage over time is separate from other kinds of burning and stacks with them. Because it's damage can be stacked this power is a favorite among DPS users. It's heal is too small for the power cost to be of much use to tanks. When Immolation is active, the first tick of damage hits for 11-17 base damage, and the remaining seven ticks hit normally for 5-11.
    [IMG] Spontaneous Combustion: Blast your target and nearby enemies. Additional attacks may cause them to explode, dealing more damage and knocking them down.
    [Power Interactions] Burning enemies instantly take additional damage
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 50% until the hit counter resets.
    Base Power Cost: 350
    2 Second Cool Down
    Base Damage of 19-23. Base Damage of 31-41 when used against burning targets.
    Lt's Notes: This is a big hard-hitting burst AOE. A favorite of Fire's weapon mastery aficionados. Occasionally this power does a second tick of 7-14 base damage.

    [IMG] Inferno: Ignites the area near your target with roaring flames. The searing heat burns your target and nearby enemies. Also scorch enemies near you, damaging and knocking them down.
    [Power Interactions] Inflicts Burning to cause damage over time; Bestows Immolation upon all allies in the area of effect, inflicting Burning to nearby enemies that attack them causing damage over time. [Thermal Absorption] Causes Burningenemies to restore power.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 50% until the hit counter resets.
    Base Power Cost: 450
    Hits for 11 ticks of 4-10 plus 5 ticks of 1-3 base damage.
    Does an additional 26 base damage burst at melee range.
    Inferno has a 12 second cool down.
    LT's Notes: A very power-expensive way of lighting things on fire. But it excels at that since it bestows immolation on your team mates near the target-- meaning anything that hits them catches fire. Immolation lasts 12 seconds (need to re-verify this). Also, this is a long DOT that stacks with everything-- including normal burning from Enflame, damage from Overheat... and even itself. That's right. If you cast inferno twice in a row you'll see the final 5 small ticks from the first cast along with damage from the new cast. Although it shares the same animation as Enflame, Inferno is a long range power.

    [IMG] Stoke Flames: [Usable While Controlled] Conjure up restorative flames, healing yourself over time.
    [Power Interactions] Inflicts Burning to cause damage over time
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 50% until the hit counter resets.”
    Base Power Cost: 350
    Base Healing: 1x75-95 plus 12 ticks of 30-36 (435-527 total)
    LT's Notes: Fire's best self-heal that doesn't require incoming damage. A staple of any Fire Tank load out.

    Ignition Tree:Ignition powers center on setting objects and enemies ablaze and harnessing the power of those fires. Specializing in this tree grants +5%Critical Attack Damage and +35Health.

    [IMG] Fireball: Blasts a searing fireball at an enemy to damage and knock them down.
    [Power Interactions] Inflicts Burning to cause damage over time.
    [Tank Role] Taunts a single target to attack you instead of others. The effect is more powerful and will not be broken by a standard Tank Role taunt.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 35% until the hit counter resets.
    Power Cost: 250
    Base Damage: 20-28
    LT's Notes: A move liked by a lot of tanks because it will instantly transfer a targets attention to you from any other player, including another tank.
    [IMG]Absorb Heat: [Vulnerable to Interrupt] Consume the heat from your enemy's body, causing damage and activating Thermal Absorption.
    [Power Interactions] Burning enemies are stunned and restore Health.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 35% until the hit counter resets. [Thermal Absorption] Causes Burningenemies to restore power.
    Power Cost: 350 (refunded immediately if used against a burning target)
    Base Damage: Up to 6 ticks of 12-16
    Base Healing: Up to 6 ticks of 15-19 (90-114 total) if used against burning enemies.
    LT's Notes: This is a good power when combined with the Empowered Channeling Home Turf Mod. There is no reason to use this against an enemy that is not burning. Ever. The damage isn't good enough. Against burning opponents it stuns, damages, and heals. In DPS stance you'll just use it to start Fire's AM and likely want to jump cancel immediately unless you're extra low on health. Once thermal absorption is activated you must extend it with Flame Cascade. In Tank stance with the Empowered Channeling mod, you can let this run its course,. The defense buff from Empowered Channeling isn't what you get from blocking, but it's close enough in most cases. When used to activate Fire's Advanced Mechanic, you will get the blue fire halo whether AH is used against a burning enemy or not, but Flame Cascade or Fireburst must be used against a burning enemy or else you do not get power refunded, nor do you activate Volatility. As of GU49, Absorb Heat no longer activates Thermal Absorption in Tank stance, even though the blue halo appears.
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  3. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    [IMG]Detonate: Scorch your enemy with burst of flames, causing damage.
    [Power Interactions]Burning enemies explode, taking heavy damage and are knocked down
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 35% until the hit counter resets.
    Power Cost:200
    Base Damage: 20-25 / 30-38 against a burning enemy
    LT's Notes: A good single-target burst power. Not quite as hard hitting as Spontaneous Combustion, but about the same average damage. The key, of course, is to make sure the target is on fire first. Knock down is a decent CC effect, but it's only single-target.

    [IMG] Wildfire: Lift your enemy with a thermal updraft, damaging and knocking them down.
    [Power Interactions]Inflicts Burning on the target and nearby enemies, causing damage over time. Burning targets heal you a small amount.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 35% until the hit counter resets.
    Power Cost: 250
    Base Damage: 8-19
    Base Healing: 7-11 healing for every target on fire.
    LT's Notes: Sets things on fire. No crowd control effect, despite power description. This actually becomes a somewhat effective heal when used against many burning targets (56-88 base healing total against 8 targets). The most targets I have been able to get healing from in one burst is 9

    [IMG] Fireball Barrage: [50% Supercharge Cost] Fire a barrage of blazing fireballs at your enemies, damaging and knocking them down. Also become resistant to control effects for a short time
    [Power Interactions] Inflicts Burning the cause damage over time.
    Base Damage: Each fireball hits for 3 ticks of 15-20 base damage, plus 11 ticks of normal burning.
    LT's Notes: Your Fireball Barrage spreads out in a fan pattern in front of you. Depending on range, a single target can be hit by up to 4 fireballs. At range, it's good for large mobs like you'll find in the Knightsdome duo. Up close it can hit very hard, but you have to be nearly point blank.

    [IMG]Eternal Flame: [50% Supercharge Cost] Use the cleansing power of fire to increase your health and resilience. Incoming attacks will provide healing, and you will negate and become resistant to debuff and control effects for a short time.
    [Power Interactions] Inflicts Burning to cause damage over time.
    [Tank Role] Extends immunity against debuffs and control effects to allies for a short time.
    Base Damage: 11 ticks of 6-18 burning
    Base Healing: 44-155 Base heal every time struck for 15-16 seconds
    LT's Notes: A favorite among tanks. Does not actually buff your health beyond the normal tank buff, but endless heals for 15 seconds is great when surrounded by a mob.

    [IMG] Backdraft: [Usable While Controlled] Ignite and explosive backdraft, damaging and pulling enemies toward you.
    [Power Interactions] Heals you when used against Burning enemies
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 45% until the hit counter resets.
    Power Cost: 300
    Base Damage: 21-27
    Base Healing: 38-46 when at least one enemy in range is on fire.
    LT's Notes: This is a must-have power for tanks. It allows you to pull enemies towards you so they're grouped together nicely for the DPS you're with to kill. Even better, enemies that are already close to get tossed up into the air and then knocked down. Better still, if any enemies are on fire you get a nice burst heal. What's not to like?

    [IMG]Flame Cascade: [Vulnerable to Interrupt] [Weapon Mastery Crit Excluded] Launch a barrage of flaming balls at your enemies, damaging and knocking them down.
    [Power Interactions] Activates Volatility when used against Burning enemies increasing the damage they take. [Thermal Absorption] Restores power while you have Volatility and when attacking Burning enemies. Extends the duration of Burning, Volatility and Thermal Absorption effects.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 45% until the hit counter resets.
    Power Cost:275
    Base Damage: 4 ticks of 7-10 / 13-18 against burning foes or when Volatility is active.
    LT's Notes: This is among the best crowd control powers in the game. When using the advanced mechanic, it refreshes burning, thermal absorption, and volatility. This is the power to use if you get knocked down using the AM, or if you need the enemies around you taken off their feet. When using Absorb Heat to activate the Advanced Mechanic, follow up with Flame Cascade against a burning enemy to complete the activation. Flame Cascade also builds Super Charge when Volatility and Thermal Absorption are active, at the rate of 1% SC per cast (i.e. 50 Flame Cascades will fill your 50% Super Charge). Flame Cascade has no cool down period. As soon as you finish casting, it is ready to go again.
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  4. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    [IMG] Fireburst: [Vulnerable to Interrupt] Unleashes a pyroclastic barrage against your enemies, damaging and knocking them down.
    [Power Interactions] Activates Volatility when used against Burning enemies. [Thermal Absorption] Restores power while you have Volatility and when attacking Burning enemies. Burning, Frostbitten, and Electrified enemies take additional damage. Extends the duration of Burning, Volatility and Thermal Absorption effects.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 60% until the hit counter resets.
    Power Cost: 450
    Base Damage: 4 ticks of 8-13 / 55-75 with Volatility or when used against Burning targets
    LT's Notes: With GU49 Fireburst is now the hardest hitting move in Fire's AM. It's medium range only but is one of the hardest hitting powers in the game with 218-300 total base damage if PIs are set up correctly. You'll need to take advantage of Fire's Mobility to use it effectively, running into range while it's being cast and quickly running away as damage registers. Fireburst generates 1.2% Super Charge per cast, filling a 50% Super Charge power after 40 casts. When cast, it can be jump canceled before it hits, and costs no power if canceled before damage registers.

    [IMG]Burning Determination: [Usable While Controlled] Engulf yourself in focused flames, removing harmful effects and healing yourself instantly. The next three incoming attacks will also provide healing, and you will become resistant to debuff and control effects for a short time. Activates Thermal Absorption and Volatility.
    [Power Interactions] Inflicts Burning to cause damage over time
    [Tank Role] Incoming attacks trigger healing up to ten times. Provides immunity to control effects and removes control debuffs to you and up to 7 teammates
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 50% until the hit counter resets.
    Power Cost: 350
    Base Healing: 59-84 plus up to 10 ticks of 8-28 when hit
    LT's Notes: This is a must-have power in Tank stance. For the group break-out/pick-up alone it is invaluable. With the burst heal and heal over time this becomes Fire's best self-heal along with Stoke Flames. The temptation will be there to just keep this power on cool down, but be aware of your situation: there are a number of alerts/raids where you will want to save this for freeing your team mates from a group entrap/stun/stasis.
    As of GU49, Thermal Absorption is no longer activated in Tank stance. Though you will see the blue halo appear, AM powers no longer refund their power.

    For DPS the healing is secondary and the primary reason for using this power is activating the advanced mechanic. Unlike using Absorb Heat to get things started, when you activate the AM with Burning Determination you get full thermal absorption and volatility and you can get improved damage from Mass Detonation or Fireburst without your enemy being on fire and without having to use Flame Cascade or Fire Burst against a burning enemy first.

    [IMG]Mass Detonation: [Vulnerable to Interrupt] Detonates a damaging blast of flames on your target and nearby enemies.
    [Power Interactions] Damage increases while you have Volatility. [Thermal Absorption] Restores power while you have Volatility and when attacking Burning enemies. Extends the duration of Burning, Volatility and Thermal Absorption effects.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 60% until the hit counter resets.
    Power Cost: 350
    Base Damage: 30-56 / 138-173 with Volatility
    LT's Notes: A hard-hitting, max-range power for Fire's Advanced Mechanic. Unlike other long-range AM powers (Gadgets' pdart or Mental's Mass Levitation), Mass Detonation can be cast over and over once Thermal Absorption and Volatility are set up. The cast time is fairly long, and non-critical hits are disappointing after such a long cast. This drives many Fire DPS players insane. Mass Detonation generates 1.2% Super Charge per cast, filling a 50% Super Charge power after 40 casts. Like Fire Burst, MD can be jump canceled before damage hits for 0 power cost.

    [IMG]Snuff Out: [Vulnerable to Interrupt] Torch your enemy with a burst of flame, heavily damaging and knocking it down. Enemies at 35% health or below will take additional damage.
    [Damage Role] Increases all damage by 50% until the hit counter resets.
    Power Cost: 450
    Base Damage: 1 tick of 21-37 and 1 tick of 88-104 base damage. Roughly doubled when enemy is below 35% health.
    LT's Notes: Not a generally favored power among fire DPS users, it still hits insanely hard. Though it is technically a channeled power, the animation is fairly short. A power-expensive but potent finisher.
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  5. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    uptated by L T 5/1/2015
    DPS ROLE (Weapon Mastery)
    [While in DPS stance every power after use applies a damage buff or modifier anywhere from 35% - 60% that is applied to the next power or series of weapon combos used. This can be overridden by a HOME TURF Mod]
    All powers have a multiplier/bonus of 35-60% that is applieed to the next series of weapon attacks and power used for 5 seconds or until the hit counter resets. This is over-written by the Max Damage white Home Turf Hands Mod, which you will probably wish to activate as soon as you have the marks and CR to do so (at or around T4). Until you get this mod you can tailor your rotations to try to use a power with a 50% or 60% before a long series of weapon attacks to maximize damage. After you get the mod you can start things off with any power.


    POWER INTERACTIONS
    Many powers do additional damage when used against enemies that have effects placed on them. These are called Power Interactions, and they are a huge benefit (in general 50%). All the power interactions and damage bonuses are noted in the power descriptions above, but we'll summarize

    Burning
    This is Fire's primary Power Interaction. Unlike most other PIs in the game, the burning PI also does Damage Over Time (DOT). It's just about the weakest DOT in the game, but it's damage nonetheless.
    Immolation, Enflame, Wildfire, Inferno, Burning Determination, Fireball, Fireball Barrage, Eternal Flame, Meteor, Reignition, Flashpoint(only with Immolation), and Stoke Flames all apply Burning.

    The following powers do extra damage when used against a burning enemy:
    • Spontaneous Combustion
    • Fiery Weapon (sometimes)
    • Detonate
    • Fireburst
    The Following powers generate a heal when used against a burning enemy:
    • Backdraft
    • Absorb Heat - also stuns.
    • Wildfire
    • Fiery Weapon (sometimes)
    Immolation
    An oft-forgotten and easily overlooked PI, Immolation acts upon you rather than your enemies. It bestows a flaming aura on you and anything you touch or that touches you is set on fire (see Burning above).
    Immolation, Enflame, and Inferno can grant Immolation. The following powers take advantage of it:
    • Overheat- extra damage and a self-heal.
    • Flashpoint- applies burning to all enemies.
    • Other powers benefit indirectly because of the Burning that Immolation applies to enemies.
    Thermal Absorption/Volatility
    This two-in-one semi-inconsistent PI is Fire's Advanced Mechanic. Details of the AM will follow in a later section.

    CROWD CONTROL
    In Most end-game Solo and Duo content your Dominance stat must be at least 100 in order for the Crowd Control effects of your powers to work. In Raids and Alerts, the threshold is much higher, so in general only Tanks or Controllers will be able to Crowd Control there. Fire's main form of crowd control is juggling enemies and knocking them down.
    • Fireball - knock down
    • Enflame - knock back/down
    • Flashpoint - knock down
    • Meteor - knock down
    • Backdraft - pull/juggle/knock down
    • Burnout - knock back/knock down
    • Flame Cascade - juggle/knock down
    • Detonate - knock down
    • Mass Detonation - knock down
    • Absorb Heat - stuns a burning enemy
    Damage Over Time (DOT)

    Some of Fire's powers do a steady stream of damage instead of a large burst. The advantage of this is that if you are knocked down, doing a weapon attack, or using another power, these DOT powers are still doing damage. The three kinds of Damage Over Time that Fire can have are:
    • Inferno
    • Overheat
    • Burning (see list of powers that inflict Burning above)
    The Iconic Pet power Robot Sidekick is also a form of Damage Over Time.

    LOADOUTS AND METHODS - DPS
    To have a good working loadout in any power set you need: at least one power that sets-up your power interactions and at least one power that takes advantage of them. Fire's Self-Buff (firey weapon) is very powerful and highly recommended for DPS. Once you have those items checked off, you can add in Damage Over Time powers, your finisher, and/or the supercharge of your choice.

    PI Applicators

    Immolation - Needed only if you use overheat, flashpoint, or use short-range attacks.
    Burning - For your burning PI applicator, it's generally best to have at least one that applies it to multiple targets at once (in an area of effect, typically). The complete list is above. Your main options are:
    • Immolation (Immolation, burning at close range after things hit you)
    • Enflame (Immolation and burning at close range
    • Inferno (Immolation at close range and Burning) Does more damage, and does stackable Damage over Time, but is very power-expensive.
    • Wildfire (Burning) uses little power, but does little damage.
    If you are using AM, then you'll need Absorb Heat + a Burning PI applicator or Burning Determination, or both. More on Fire's AM later.

    Self-Buff
    • Fiery Weapon - good to clip with also
    Burst
    • Detonate (single-target) Good for using against bosses. Make sure they're on fire.
    • Spontaneous Combustion (AOE) Good for mobs and bosses with henchmen.
    Optional DOT
    • Overheat
    • Inferno
    • Robot Sidekick (Iconic)
    Optional Finisher
    • Snuff Out - does extra damage when the enemy (typically the boss fight) is below 35% health.
    Optional Supercharge
    • Volcanic Calamity
    • Fireball Barrage
    Channelled (Generally AM only)
    • Mass Detonation
    • Fireburst
    • Flame Cascade
    To build an effective loadout choose from the lists above:
    1. A PI Applicator power that sets things on fire
    2. Fiery Weapon
    3. A burst power
    4. Another Burst power, or a DOT, or a superchage, or your finisher
    5. burst, DOT, SC, or Finisher
    6. burst, DOT, SC, or Finisher
    Sample WM Loadouts - I hate to give these. I just taught you how to build them yourself. But people are always asking so....

    Inferno - Fiery Weapon - Spontaneous Combustion - Overheat - Snuff Out - Volcanic Calamity
    Wildfire - Fiery Weapon - Detonate - Spontaneous Combustion - Robot Sidekick - Snuff Out
    Inferno - Fiery Weapon - Spontaneous Combustion - Overheat - Robot Sidekick - Volcanic Calamity

    All of these are built using the Chinese-Menu method above. Some will use more power than others (can you spot the one that uses the least power?) but all should be workable.

    When you fight you are going to use a power to set things on fire and clip that power with fiery weapon. If your loadout includes an extra DOT power, you'll likely want to fire that off and then use the burst power in your loadout until your enemy is dead. If they stop burning (probably right around the same time your fiery weapon comes off cool down) stop using your burst and reapply buring and fiery weapon.


    IMPORTANT STATS - DPS

    Might: Affects power damage (yellow numbers)
    4 might = 1.8% increase in base damage at lvl 30 (.45 %/ point)

    Precision: Affects weapon damage (white numbers)
    10 Precision = 1 point increase to your weapon's base dps

    Critical Attack Chance: Each point you put into this stat gives you a +1% chance to score a critical hit, this is important because crits do significantly more dmg than normal hits, so the higher your percentage the more likely you are to score a crit.

    Critical Attack Damage: Each point you put into this stat increases the dmg of your critical hits by 4% this is important because it allows you do to more dmg in shorter periods of time.

    ICONIC POWERS - DPS
    Recommended:
    • Weapons Expert - Permanently Gain +3% Critical Attack Chance.
    • Tactical Genius - Permanently Gain +10% Critical Attack Damage.
    Others to Consider:
    • Robot Sidekick
    • Wisdom of Solomon - Permanently Gain +50 Vitalization and +100 Power. Useful for AM. See below.
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  6. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    PLAYER vs PLAYER - DPS
    LT's Note: This is essentially Soulburn's original PVP guide with very minor updates. On the TODO list is to update it to reflect Fire's AM, but Mass Detonation and Fireburst have such long cast times that they're more or less useless in PVP. GU49 brings greatly increased damage to Fire's AM, but the cast times, interrupt windows, and lack of clipping abilities in the powers means that a WM set-up as described in this guide is probably the best way to go PVP-wise.


    PVP is a totally different animal for Fire and you are going to want to have a different mindset than what you would do in PVE raids and alerts. The first thing your going to notice is that you are not going to get any of our cast time moves off on a consistent enough basis to make them worth having in your loadout [Fireburst/Mass Det]. This leaves us with our instant cast powers and breakouts to work with in PVP.

    Instant Cast Powers List:
    Immolation, Enflame, Flashpoint, Meteor Strike, Burnout, Fiery Weapon, Overheat, Inferno, Stoke Flames, Fireball, Detonate, Wildfire, Fireball Barrage(SC), Backdraft, Burning Determination, Snuff Out, Volcanic Calamity(SC).


    So what does Fire excel at in PVP?
    • Great group damage, most of our powers will do damage to multiple enemies with each cast.
    • Multiple knock up powers at your disposal so learn to take advantage of these as they can get you some moments where your opponent can't defend themselves against your attacks.
    • Breakouts, being a tank power gives you the option of also having a breakout ability to help you stand up after being countered, thus increasing your DPS where others would still be on their back.
    • We now have a useable 35% finisher with the change to Snuff Out!
    So what is Fire's weaknesses in PVP?
    • We lose a lot of our best moves from PVE, leave those hard hitting cast time powers at home [Fireburst/Mass Det] learn to use your instant cast powers to clip your weapon combos.
    • Lacking in single target damage powers, strong DoTs, or consistent high burst damage powers. In premade 5v5 syncs you will most likely have to play in Tank stance as other powers are more built more towards single target focused fire damage.
    • Players in Healer stance are able to debuff [take away any self heals] and do extra damage to you even while in DPS stance.
    TACTICS & INTERACTIONS for PVP - DPS

    Knock Up Powers: [Enflame, Flashpoint, Fireball, Flame Cascade, Meteor, Wildfire, Backdraft, Detonate, Spontaneous Combustion]
    These can be used when people are NOT blocking or have IMMUNITY to knock your opponents into the air creating brief moments where they can not defend themselves against your damage; this can give you a chance to setup some of your harder hitting weapon combos. You only have a chance of knocking your opponent up so do not expect this to happen every time you use one of these powers.

    Breakout Powers: [Burnout, Burning Determination, PVP Trinket]
    These 2 allow you to breakout instantly from being countered by your opponent (successful block or block breaker) thus getting you back on your feet and back to doing damage much faster than the normal breakout from using the block button. Burning Determination also activates the Advanced Mechanic.

    Setting up DoTs and PI's: [Enflame, Burning Determination, Inferno, Meteor, Fireball, Stoke Flames, Wildfire, Overheat]
    Basic DoTs and PI's - Your most basic tactic is to spread your burning PI to as many of your opponents as possible, the burning PI is your basic DoT that will keep continuous damage applied to the opposition as long as you keep it refreshed. The burning PI is your jumping off point for many other power interactions as well and should always be kept up during battle.

    Power Interactions for Extra Damage: [Detonate, Flashpoint, Backdraft, Inferno, Enflame, Snuff Out, Overheat]
    Detonate - when used against burning targets will deal extra damage, this is a great ranged clip attack that is a virtually instant cool down.

    Flashpoint - inflicts extra damage while Immolation PI is active and will add the burning PI to anyone hit by it; Flashpoint will also inflict an extra hit of damage when used while Immolation PI is active. The double hit for Flashpoint can also be setup with Enflame, Immolation, and Inferno.

    Backdraft - inflicts an extra hit of damage when used against opponents with the burning PI, does not consume the burning PI for other powers when used; will also heal you when used on any target with the burning PI applied; has a chance to pull opponents towards you.

    Inferno - provides a 2nd and much stronger burning effect DoT and PI, also grants Immolation effect to you and any friendly group members; sets up the Immolation PI for extra damage from Flashpoint.

    Enflame - adds burning to any targets touching or near you, the DoT from Enflame should be almost as strong as the burning from Inferno when near opponents. The burning from Enflame is its own DoT and can stack with the other 2 already listed but will not do damage when you are no longer near your opponent.

    Snuff Out - when used on targets below 35% health remaining will hit for much more damage than when they are above 35% remaining health.

    Overheat - inflicts extra damage while the Immolation PI on the initial hit, your target will now spread DoTs to others close by while inflicted. Will heal you when used while having the Immolation PI and is a unique DoT that will stack with all other DoTs.

    Spontaneous Combustion - deals an initial burst hit of damage and then applies a proc to your target and nearby enemies, the procs can be triggered by you or your teammates damage up to 3 additional times. Also applies a burning effect on cast.


    MODDING YOUR GEAR for PVP - DPS
    Here is decision time for what kind of a DPS you want to be or what fits your play style the most. You have 3 basic builds templates for how to mod your gear, keep these in mind as you increase your gear to T4 level so you know what fits you best when you start purchasing that tier and putting mods in.
    • All Precision Based - this build goes for maximizing your weapon combos and single target damage to make up for the lack hard hitting single target powers; your powers are only used for extra damage when clipping weapon combos.
    • All Might Based - this build takes the AoE instant powers to the max pouring on damage to the whole team pressuring healers to spam group heals to keep everyone up.
    • Balanced Precision and Might - this build goes for Pre/Might in all your red sockets, the other four can be split 2/2 equal precision and might, all 4 with might, or all 4 with precision. This build balances group damage while keeping your weapon attacks effective enough to do steady single target damage.
    • Like x 9
  7. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    TANK ROLE
    uptated by L T 1/20/2016
    [While in Tank stance your Dominance is doubled. After casting a power, your health is increased by 60% +2.2x Dominance, and all healing received is increased by 80% In addition, you get a restoration bonus of approximately 25% of the base restoration of each piece of gear that is CR81 or higher]

    If you're new to DCUO, you've probably spent most of your time in game leveling in Damage Stance. But every power set has another role it can play as, and for Fire that role is Tank. The Tank is a defensive role-- you'll find yourself doing much less damage while in Tank stance. In 8-person Raid content (and to a lesser degree in 4-person Alerts) all the enemies do a lot more damage than they do in solo content. If you try to face these enemies in Damage stance, you'll probably find yourself dying over and over again. That's where the Tank comes in.

    The role or job of the Tank in the group is to get as many enemies as possible to attack them instead of the other squishier members of your group; this is better known as gaining "aggro" or taunting. As a Tank, any power you cast generates "aggro" and causes all enemies in the area to attack you. It doesn't have to be a Fire power-- Iconic powers or powers from movement trees will also generate aggro. If you cast a ranged power, enemies close to where the power strikes will be taunted.

    Taunting - A few facts that will further explain how the aggro mechanics work:
    • Casting any power generates a taunt that lasts for 12 seconds.
    • It is impossible for anyone to steal aggro from a Tank except another Tank (or Tank-pet). All Tanks have a special move that will steal aggro from another Tank. For Fire, this power is Fireball.
    • Some enemies, particularly Bosses, are scripted to attack a different enemy from time to time. Any time a Tank loses aggro before 12 seconds has passed it is due to a scripted aggro dump. In other words no matter what at some point you will lose aggro based on the coding of the enemy and it will need to be refreshed again.
    STAYING ALIVE - FIRE TANK

    The basic idea of Tanking is to go in first, aggro the enemies and get them to attack you, and then survive while the damage dealers on your team go to work. Fire has 4 basic tactics for staying alive and mitigating all the incoming damage:

    Health Buff - using powers while in Tank stance gives you a base health buff of 60% (base health *1.6); but you also get an additional 2.2 points of health for every 1 point of dom so (Dom*2.2 + base health*1.6 = total health) is how you figure out your total health after the buff whenever you cast a power. Remember that Dominance is doubled while in Tank stance.

    Self Healing - healing allows you to mitigate some of your incoming damage; The strength of the heals is increased by 1% of the Base Heal number for every 4 points of Restoration and Dominance you have. Fire's self-healing powers are:
    [IMG]
    Heals are listed in order of strength (with the supercharges at the bottom). Fiery Weapon is a very unreliable heal. Stoke Flames and Burning Determination CR105 numbers are for the burst and the total (including the burst). Wildfire has a fairly large area and can generate 8 or more heals from a single cast given enough burning adds.

    Juggling - juggling is basically utilizing your crowd control powers to knock down/knock back/stun/panic/ect. The theory here is that if the enemies are on their back or controlled in some way you are preventing at least 1 attack them them each time they are controlled, thus adding up to a lot of damage not taken that normally would be. Fire's CC powers are:
    [IMG]
    Many of these powers are primarily damage-centric. I've listed them in the approximate order of tank usefulness.

    Blocking - blocking instantly triples your Defense, greatly reducing damage taken. It also counters/knocks down lunging enemies. Many adds love to use lunge attacks, so blocking when being attacked by a large group will often result in at least one being knocked down. When this happens, you will gain immunity from control effects, including counters, for a short time (about 2 seconds). This is often called "farming immunity". Many of Fire's Powers generate Healing or Crowd Control, but since Fire has no Shield powers, Blocking is Fire's only way to mitigate damage that is coming in.


    Utilizing these tactics properly at the right time and in the right situation along with maintaining aggro is what will separate a great Tank from an average one. As a general rule almost all boss encounters will use the basic turtle tactic of blocking and cycling self heals; adds leading up the the boss encounters are normally controllable so a more advanced Juggle cycle of powers will serve you better than blocking and healing provided you have the recommended DOM amount for the raid/alert.


    LOADOUTS & METHODS - TANK

    OK. Background and Theory is over. Now how do I Tank as Fire? The answer is you play to all your strengths listed in the last section.

    Every Fire Tank needs to:
    1. Heal themselves in rough spots. Fre's self-heals have been improved since launch and they are now very powerful.
    2. Break Out - since most instances feature a Boss or Adds that use Stun or other Crowd Control tactics against your team, you should always have a group break-out in your load-out.
    3. Juggle Enemies - Fire's juggling abilities are quite good.
    4. Taunt enemies both near and far
    5. Light things on fire - We're Fire, after all! We get bonuses when things are lit up and our job as a tank gets easier.
    In theory, any load-out that can check off all of those items is playable.
    Self Healing - In practice, Modern Fire Tank load-outs always start with two powers:
    • Stoke Flames - Your best self-heal
    • Burning Determination - Almost as good a self-heal and a group break-out. Plus it inflicts burning.
    Juggling- We've checked two items off our initial list. Now let's add some crowd control. Yes, there are other juggles, but these are by far the most popular:
    • Enflame - Juggle plus damage over time. Plus it inflicts burning.
    • Backdraft - Juggle, group pull, and gives a nice burst heal when at least 1 enemy in range is burning.
    Taunting -Since every super-power generates a taunt, these 4 powers check off everything on the list: we have 3 heals, 2 juggles, and a group break-out. The problem is, to taunt a far-away add with our load-out so far, you have to lunge/jump over to them, use one of these short-range super powers to taunt them, and then jump back to where the main fight is. That's not necessarily a bad way to play-- in some ways it's classic Fire-- but no other tank powers play that way.

    Other Tank powers just use a long-range pull in this situation. Call it the Lazy-Man's way to Tank: why should I jump over to them if I can just bring them to me? Fire lacks a long-range pull, but fortunately there are still options available. Since any ranged damaging power will also taunt, just using one of those will bring adds running towards you (or at least attacking you at range) which is generally just as good as a pull:
    • Fireball - Fire's super taunt will grab the attention of the target even if it's focused on another Tank or Tank pet.
    • Wildfire - good damage and a self-heal if targets are on fire.
    • Flame Cascade - good damage and a great juggle, as long as you're not interrupted
    • Overheat - This quick-cast power gives you a burst heal if you have immolation active plus puts a dot on targets. The only problem is it has a somewhat long cool-down, so if adds spawn while it's inactive, you'll have to jump around.
    • Absorb Heat/Inferno - Absorb Heat used to be a great move when it returned power if used against burning enemies. Now it, along with Inferno, simply cost too much power to use. Avoid these powers.
    If you must have a pull, you can use your movement-mode pull or the Amazon Lasso Iconic power (which in many ways is the best pull in the game).
    • Low Pressure - Flight's multi-target pull
    • Tornado Pull - Super Speed's single-target pull
    • Grapple-line - Acrobatics single-target pull
    • Amazon Lasso - Single target attack that pulls, stuns, and grounds and by the way it's also a super-taunt. Don't enter Throne of the Dead without it!
    Other Options:
    • Eternal Flame is one of the best Supercharge powers in the game.
    • Reignition is a decent burst heal and is only a 25% Supercharge.
    • Immolation and Flashpoint cost the least Power to use, and go well together. Use them if you find yourself running low on power a lot.
    • Like x 8
  8. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    SAMPLE LOADOUTS - TANK

    uptated by L T 1/20/2016
    I just explained how to build your own, but everyone always asks, so...

    LT's Standard - A decent general-purpose load-out. Use Wildfire to taunt faraway Adds.
    Enflame - Backdraft - Wildfire - Burning Determination - Stoke Flames - Eternal Flame

    Immortal Madness - Kyrro likes his juggles and throws in Flame Cascade, which also helps build Super Charge faster.
    Enflame - Backdraft - Flame Cascade - Burning Determination - Stoke Flames - Eternal Flame

    Spicy's Delight - Spicy runs with both Group Breakouts, and likes to switch out Enflame for Immolation when she runs with a Fire DPS.
    Stoke Flames - Wildfire - Burnout - Backdraft - Enflame - Burning Determination

    Power Saver - Immolation and Flashpoint are cheaper to use, but you have to jump around to taunt adds if you use this load out.
    Immolation - Flashpoint - Backdraft - Burning Determination - Stoke Flames - Reignition

    TOD Special - switch in Amazon Lasso to grab the Essence of War or similar foe.
    Enflame - Backdraft - Wildfire - Burning Determination - Stoke Flames - Mesmerizing Lasso


    IMPORTANT STATS - TANK

    Dominance
    This is your most important stat as a Fire Tank. A certain Dominance level is recommended in the description list of all the raids/alerts/ops. If you do not meet this recommended stat number you will be unable to control the enemies within the instance-- you won't be able to juggle/stun/pull them.

    Dominance applied to Fire:
    In addition to increasing their maximum Health by 60% when using super powers, Fire Tanks gain additional Health based on their Dominance score. The increase is 2.2 additional Health (rounded down) for every point of Dominance. Healing caused by Fire abilities scale with Dominance combined with Restoration. Since Dominance is doubled in tank stance, each point of dominance you gain is very valuable.

    Health
    The more health you have the more hits it takes to KO you. As a Fire Tank your stating Health is increased 60% (base health * 1.6) every time you activate any power; Fire based, Iconic, and Movement any of them will apply the buff. Fire lacks shielding powers or high defense to mitigate incoming damage, instead we have a high amount health to absorb blows giving healers time to top you back off to full between large hits.

    Restoration
    The higher your Restoration the more effective your self heals will be (4 restoration =1% increase in base healing). Also effects shields like Hard Light Shield from the Iconic list as well as the shields from pets/healers.

    Defense
    The defense needed for 1% less damage is approximately (3.5*CR+46), where CR is your current equipped combat rating. Because of this formula, your Tank gear should always mitigate about 45% of your damage. Don't worry about defense, and don't spend power or skill points on it.



    SKILLPOINT ALLOCATION - TANK

    For Fire Tank your main focus should be Health and Dominance, after that focus on Restoration, Crit Heal Chance, Crit Heal Effect, and Defense last. I recommend always maximizing your DOM first over any of the others if you have a choice, DOM is the most important stat for any Tank powerset.

    Crit Heal Chance: Brawling, Rifle, Two Handed (Each point gives +1%/3 times for a total of +3% critical healing chance) For a grand total of 9% critical healing chance.

    Crit Heal Magnitude: Bow, Hand Blasters, One handed, Staff (Each point gives +4%/3 times for a total of +12% Crital Healing Effect per weapon tree) For a grand total of 48% Critical Healing Magnitude.


    Health: Brawling, Handblasters, One Handed, Rifle, Two Handed, Shield (Each point gives +15/3 times, for a total of 45 health per weapon tree) For a grand total of 270 Health (When buffed that becomes 432 Health)

    Dominance: Brawling, Dual Wield, Hand Blasters, Staff (Each point gives +7/3 times for a total of 21 DOM per weapon tree) For a grand total of 84 DOM (When in tank stance that becomes 168 DOM)

    Restoration: Dual Pistols, Dual Wield, Martial Arts, Shield (Each point gives +15/ 3 times for a total of 45 Resto per weapon tree) For a grand total of 180 Restoration.

    Defense: Under no circumstances should you ever spend skill points or power points on Defense. The payback just isn't there.


    ICONIC POWERS - TANK

    Recommended:
    • Empathic Healing - Permanently Gain +3% Critical Healing Chance
    • Miracle Worker - Permanently Gain +10% Critical Healing Magnitude
    • Mesmerizing Lasso - The Amazon Lasso is the best super-taunt in the game, since it also stuns and pulls. Popular among Fire Tanks since Fire lacks any sort of pull.
    Others to Consider:
    • Hard Light Shield - Encases you in a shield to deflect damage, damage deflected is equal to your Dom + Resto. This is a healer-type shield, and will break after a few hits.
    • Amazonian Deflection - Deflects attacks, possible knock down and stun against your attackers. More or less broken after GU47, it now bestows much less mitigation than blocking.
    • Intimidating Gaze - Permanently Gain +40 Dominance (+80 in Tank stance, since dominance is doubled). That means slightly better heals and +176 health after using a power.
    • Powerful Resistance - Permanently Gain +200 Health (320 after using a Super Power).
    • Nanoweave Armor - Permanetly Gain +200 Defense and +200 Toughness. This is less than 2% damage mitigation. I'd advise against wasting a power point on it.
    HAND OF FATE BELT SLOTS - TANK
    Your 60% health bonus for using a super-power in Tank stance applies to trinkets as well, so a +2000 health trinket will add 3200 health after using a power.

    MODDING YOUR GEAR - TANK
    Jim'sArcade has created very comprehensive charts for modding your gear posted later in this guide. If you're serious about modding, you should check them out. There's s lot of surprising things there. Restoration and Health seems to be a much better mod than Dominance and Health.
    UPDATE: Jim'sArcade now has updated charts for the new T8 Mods. Check these out if you're at end game.

    HOME TURF TACTICAL MODS - TANK
    Weapon [Absorption Adapter]
    The healing adapter is a decent alternate.

    Neck [Fortified Blocking]
    This is an absolute must-have for Fire Tanks. You're dead without it.

    Back [Breakout Regeneration]
    Heals more damage than the Defense Mod would prevent. Violent Breakout tends to scatter Adds, but can give you breathing room.

    Chest [Quick Healing]
    Adds 10% to all healing received. More valuable for Fire than for any other Tank.

    Feet [Deadly Block]
    Explosive Block tends to scatter things, but can give you breathing room. Tumbling Master is worth considering if you are Acrobatics.

    Hands [Any]
    Empowered Channeling if you use Absorb Heat. Regenerative Shielding if you use HL Shield. Otherwise I would suggest Max Damage.
    • Like x 7
  9. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    PLAYER vs PLAYER - TANK

    The Tank role plays a much different role in PVP than it does in PVE. The first thing you need to understand is the RPS system, when in Tank stance you will have an advantage over anyone that is a Troller powerset regardless of if they are in Contoller stance or not. You must also understand that Healers are now your enemy, they will debuff you and take away your ability to heal yourself and buff your total health. One other thing to remember is that "taunting" and aggro no longer come into play during PVP anyone can attack anyone else regardless of aggro and threat tables.

    So what does a Fire Tank excel at in PVP?
    • Self Healing and Extra Health, this is your main way of staying alive during battle as many of your powers will heal yourself negating damage and along with the health buff more than doubling your health this makes Fire tanks extremely hard to knock out.
    • Two group cleanses, Fire has 2 very useful cleanses to offer to your team that will clear any debuffs done by the opposing teams controller; these should be on your loadout in PVP at all times.
    • AoE damage, Fire is designed to be an AoE powerset so naturally most of your powers will do damage to multiple targets; all the instant cast powers work great for weapon clipping so be sure to finish any combos with a power for extra damage.
    • Damage buff versus any Controller powerset, attacking any Controller powerset grants you an attack bonus while being in Tank stance.
    So what is a Fire Tanks weaknesses in PVP?
    • Healer Debuff, takes away the Fire health buff and any self healing from powers; Healers also receive a damage bonus when attacking any Tank powerset.
    • Lack of single target damage, much like with DPS Fire lacks hard hitting single target powers as the majority of our powers are AoE focused so most of your damage will need to come from your weapon combos.
    TACTICS for PVP - TANK

    Debuff Cleanses and Breakouts: [Burning Determination, Burnout]
    Your main job or expected role is to remove the debuffs controllers place on your teammates, mainly the healer(s) in your group. Using these powers will clear any debuffs the controllers have placed on your team members. Burnout after U18 is now the only useable after being countered breakout, but you still are going to always want to run with these 2 powers in your loadout.

    Countering Kiters: [Movement Pull, Mesmerizing Lasso, Backdraft]
    One of your other expected jobs is to help the controller counter the kiting tactics used by healers. These powers listed above all help to counter kiting, mainly to keep healers from entering movement mode. Movement pulls cause grounding; Mesmerizing Lasso causes grounding, stuns and causes a DoT; and finally Backdraft has a chance to pull targets towards you.

    Debuffing Contollers: [Any Might Based Damage]L T's Note: The Role-based counters have been disabled in the most recent PVP seasons.
    The RPS system not only gives any Tank powerset including Fire a damage boost versus any controller powerset it also allows us to remove PoT and take down any shielding power a Controller may use. Any might based damage will grant you this RPS advantage it does not have to come from the Fire power trees it can be Movement mode powers, Iconic powers, or Fire powers. You must be targeting the Controller to apply the debuff, AoE powers that hit them while targeting other players will not apply the debuff.

    Self Healing Powers: [Stoke Flames, Backdraft, Burnout, Burning Determination, Overheat, Reignition, Eternal Flame]
    These are all the self healing powers you have to choose from, these powers you will want to use to keep you alive and in the fight longer instead of damage mitigation used by our Ice or Earth brothers. If you run the Fire Healer loadout for PVE you will notice you can run the same loadout for PVP in much the same way as you are already accustomed to. Running a Self Heal loadout for anything other than 5v5 arenas is one of your best options when tanking PVP.


    MODDING YOUR GEAR for PVP - TANK
    Self Healing Focused - DOM/PRE in all your Blue and Red slots, Resto/PRE in Yellow slots
    Maximum Health Focused - PRE/Health in all Blue and Red slots, Resto/Health or Health/Power in Yellow slots
    Damage Focused - [DPS Gear] PRE/Might in all Reds, PRE/Power in Yellows, PRE/Health in Blues


    PREMADE 5v5 TACTICS - TANK

    Ok here is where Tanking in PVP takes on a totally different role than any other arena matches. When you start running 5v5 and want to sync ques with some of the better players in PVP you need a new strategy for Tanking. Your focus now shifts from staying alive, holding nodes, and fighting controllers to more of a 2nd DPS role while still providing cleanses for your healer(s) and keeping your teams chosen focus fire target from kiting.
    • Recommended Powers - Both Cleanses (Burnout and Burning Determination), Anti Kiting Powers (Mesmerizing Lasso is the best of the 3 listed above), Power Regen SC (Speed Drain/Word of Power).
    • Gear and Modding - Here you want to get DPS gear instead of Tank gear, Mod as a DPS, and spend skill points as a DPS; abandon all aspects of being a Tank besides providing cleanses for your Healers.
    • Like x 7
  10. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    THE NEW ROLE - DAMAGE TANK
    Some things to know about being a damage tank:
    This is the ultimate of what you may people calling "dual speccing" as such to do it right you need time spent in both roles [DPS & Tank] honing your craft at each and then be able to bring them together at the same time. If you mostly run as a self heal tank build you need to spend time as a Juggle tank as this is what Damage Tank relies on. If you mostly play as a ranged DPS you need to spend time working on your melee rotations and builds.
    Staying alive and doing damage as a damage tank:
    This playstyle is only ment to be played running content you are over geared for, do not try to be a damage tank at the current level you are grinding gear for. You need to be flexible in finding the right balance of dps gear and tank gear to allow you to do both without being a strain to your team; you want to be an asset not a burden. If you are running with a group you do not know, be sure to inspect that the healers are geared enough to handle the extra damage you will be taking as your health and defense will be significantly lower than a pure tank. You want to have a full dps set and a full tank set of gear when running as a damage tank.
    Dominance requirements for each raid:
    Khandaq : 350
    Batcave 123 : 350
    FOS 123 : 400
    Gates & Prime : 550
    Operations : 550
    Skillpoint allocation:
    1st Tier of skillpoints should be spent getting all of the Dom, Health, Precision, Might, Cirt Chance, and Crit Magnitude.
    2nd Tier of skillpoints are normally spent getting extra might and precision.
    Home Turf Mods:
    Chest = Core Strength (Removes the 20% Damage Penalty form being in Tank Stance)
    Neck = Escalating Might (Increases your might after each cast of a power)
    Weapon = Absorption Adapter (Reduces damage by generating a shield when proc'd)
    Hands = Empowered Channeling (Adds extra defense when casting Snuff Out or Absorb Heat)
    How to begin training yourself to become a damage tank in stages:
    Stage 1
    Running with your Tank gear & SP with a DPS minded loadout. This is the begging of learning the Damage Tank Role. Here you will learn how to still Tank while doing damage at the same time. This is where you will learn how to juggle while still doing damage. Powers like Enflame, Flashpoint, Backdraft, and Inferno are now your main go to powers as they both juggle and deal good damage; you will still want to run with a self heal or 2 like Burning Determination and or Burnout. Instead of just mitigating damage as your main role you want to see how much damage you can do while still mitigating plenty of incoming damage.
    Stage 2
    Running Half and Half DPS and Tank gear SP split between the 2. After you have a few runs under your belt basically playing as a melee DPS in Tank gear you want to start moving more towards damage. Now its time to make your loadout in the fashion of a melee DPS. Here you want to basically want to run as a melee DPS with some tank gear on. My basic damage tank loadout normally looks similar to this:
    Enflame | Backdraft | Inferno | Spontaneous Combustion | Flashpoint | Detonate
    Stage 3
    At this point your want to basically be playing as a dps that is grabbing agro off others and has more health to handle the damage along with enough dominance to juggle adds. You only want to put on enough tank gear to reach the minimum dominance level of the raid; everything else is pure dps
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  11. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

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  12. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

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  13. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

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  14. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

  15. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

  16. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

  17. OMAAR New Player

    Welcome back Soul :)
    • Like x 1
  18. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    Thanks buddy!
  19. Seetheus New Player

    Looking forward to testing & updates from the revamp.
  20. Soulburn32 Loyal Player

    Ya me 2, lots of work to do on my part lol
    • Like x 1