Ground Breaking Guide to Earth

I still feel like a squishy though. :-(

What about alternating your trinkets to help? I've been doing this w/ my healer, but not much w/ my tank. I've got PvP (free breakout), CC trinket, and FOS trinket (+845 health). So... you could pop a trinket before casting Reinforce until you become over geared and less wary.

Not sure if it's just because of the higher tier gear(T4) but I generally feel un-squishy as well in comparrison to the other tank powers. I also clip reinforce with Gemstone Shield, which I only recently noticed they share the same CD lol

Its probably because when blocking we have 2x the effective health of ice and 1.5x the effective health of fire. While not blocking we are even with Ice and higher than fire.

My CR is 83. I have the FOS trinket but I usually keep a space for the Sidekick.

I am trying out earth from HL. Got bored and needed change for a bit.
I am seeing people saying we need to mod might/prec in reds.
All my reds are Precision 4 and my stats are 907pre/1590 might (only 109 sp)
Loadout Debris Field - JackHammer - Tetonic Break - Reinforce- Localized Tremor - Not sure on last spot

Should I re-mod? I am going the precision method so I think I am good with straight Precision. Am I missing something?

How is a ranged precision loadout? Since Tetonic Break and Jackhammer are decent range, would you guys suggest replacing localized tremor with pebble blast? Or another power?
I ask since T5 wont allow up close and personal at the start.

Part of the reason I say Might/Prec in red sockets is because all of our other powers do Might damage except Gemstone Shield which you probably won't use as DPS. Also, we can self buff our Prec with Reinforce which also adds to the Crit Chance. Localized Tremor is an AOE and does not have a big range so Pebble Blast is better for going range. Pebble Blast is also really quick too. I also use Debris Field which is an AOE DoT. We can actually get a good mix of abilities out of Earth. If I go full on DPS, it's Tectonic Break, Debris Field, Reinforce, Jackhammer and Pebble Blast. Because I have flight I use Vacuum Bubble as my SC.

Exactly why we say Might/Prec yes. Honeslty Jackhammer is the only prec move we have besides gemstone and earthquake(useless supercharge btw) so really Earth isn't all that prec based. Also, like you said, reinforce grants 150 prec which is more than enough of a boost.

How does a precision based earth not burn through a ton of power? I understand yo u should only jackhammer till the PI wears off then reapply it and repeat. However I still find myself burning through power

For Prec. base Earth DPS yes Jackhammer is good but its not always the best option. On single target you are better off using weapon combos and clipping with pebble blast. Even on 2-3 adds you are better of with weapon combos and clipping. Jackhammer only really benefits when used on large groups AND when you have the PI. If you are using Jackhammer without the PI its wasted. If you are using Jackhammer without first using Reinforce its wasted. If you are using Jackhammer 24/7 you are doing it wrong. We aren't HL we don't spam one prec. combo to get all of our damage. You need to set up the PI set up a long lasting dot or 2, THEN jackhammer. I recommend Debris field and totem or a pet for some more constant damage while doing weapon attacks/jackhammers.

I agree with Alpha. Earth requires more thought about rotations.

Is my loadout good or something's wrong ?

- Jackhammer (50% absorption)
- Earthen Grip (My long range pull, i can't play without that)
- Epicenter (My AOE close range pull)
- Totem (To hold aggro and CC)
- Shards (CC)
- Unstoppable (Cleanse move)

I don't like to run with a brick golem because he can be one-shot.
Also i think Gemstone shield is useless because it may break before i do all aftershocks.

Gemstone Shield's HP refreshes to full when you use its aftershocks. That means, even if the first castings break, if you are still in the middle of the aftershock, you'll still get your shield up (and with full health).

The loadout looks fine, although using Totem is a bit curious. I also notice you don't really have an emergency power in case you fail to use Jackhammer's aftershocks. But eh, it's still workable.

I put totem on my load out. So it is Debris Field - Totem - Tectonic Break - Jackhammer - Reinforce - Localized Tremor/Pebble Blast
Clip totem with Reinforce. I tend to forget to throw out debris field lol.
I need to remod my reds. I am modded totally for Precision and that doesn't work for any class but HL Damn, kinda dug my own grave with HL. What is considered good stats for Earth? Might and Precision wise that is

I tried the crystal golem and it was so underwhelming and died pretty fast even in Sub Construct.
Also I am working with Martial Arts/Two handed/ and Bow so that is not doing me any favors either...

What would you guys suggest with Home Turf Mods?
Core strength of course but there really is no good Hand mod for Earth is there since we do not have a 60%.

I heard it hold aggro but i'm not sure.

I doubt that anything taunts past the initial casting, except for Jackhammer and Upheaval... and I don't even really know about those.

I, personally, only use Totem for its CC abilities. So, when I'm trying to protect Dr. Fate, I place totem right up against him. It's a safe knockdown (more than once) until I can get the adds away from him. Hmmm... I wonder what it would be like in the first part of Gates? Not flexible(mobile) enough and too long a cooldown, I guess.

ok thanks

Game mechanics are changing. Earth tanks will now have snap aggro like Fire. I don't think you will need Totem. Also adds become immune to the knockback. We are going to have to juggle more and play more like a Fire tank IMO. unfortunately Unstoppable is not spammable which is our guaranteed knock back. I think Sonic Cry is going to be a must.

I thought we already had snap taunt? Just like ice was changed to snap taunt, right?

I'm going to address a few people hear without quoting(hard to do on my phone). So quagmire, your rotation should look like totem/reinforce->tectonic->debris field->jackhammerx3-5/pebble blast. Stat wise I would say 600-700 precision and 1750-1850 might is what it should be with t4 and mods.

Afrenchguy: your loadout is perfectly fine but totem will not hold aggro. Like black said we will be snap taunting from now on meaning only the activation is a taunt not damage. Also don't count gemshield out. Read up on the FAQs part of the guide to see the benefits of gemshield. Don't treat it like a shield or it will break like you said, treat it like a way to get your absorption up to 75-85% by only using 1 aftershock and having it reduce damage for 12s. As far as how we will play come t5, Earth tanks will be the blocking tank. Pop absorption then hit Amazonian deflection or phase dodge and ride it out. Unstoppable will be a must again I saw a lot of boss pulls in the videos, and i would run hl shield as well with the regenative shielding mod and the extra healing chest mod.