Grouping Warrior Guidance - Disciplines (lvl 115)

Re-posted from an incorrect subforum: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq...-warrior-guidance-disciplines-lvl-115.283995/

Howdy folks - I'm trying to become a competent group warrior (when not zerkin'). I have a couple different aggro spam multi-binds, separated buttons for damage-dealing abilities, rune augs for my aggro weapons, a no-damage bandolier, a Flash of Anger hotkey, etc...

What I lack is skill and understanding of the disciplines. My questions:

1. What defensive abilities should I be activating during regular pulls just to make things easier on my healer?
2. What defensive abilities should I activate when pulled a named?
   • This is the most important info for me. A couple named have simply ROCKED me and I know that shouldn't be the case.
   • Which ones are too weak to be used on particularly mean named?
3. What offensive abilities should I use when explicitly maximizing my own DPS?

Also, don't worry about knowing the level 115 version of whatever disc. I have drawn up a whole pedigree of warrior combat abilities and disciplines, so I can figure out what you meant. I just need to be pointed in the right direction.

1)

First of all, there are some things that needs to be up all the time.
In your disc slot, Courageous Defense.
Click a hotkey that triggers Paragon Champion + Commanding Voice, to click again every 10 min.
Also, not a mitigation disc, but remember to have Battle Leap up.

Secondly, we have a few mitigation abilities that have a 5 min refresh time, the idea is to click them one by one in a rotation, like this one : Composite Shielding (1 min) / Guardian's Bravery (48 sec) / Diplomatic Immunity (30 sec) / Pain Doesn't Hurt (3 min). That's 5 min 18 sec, then Composite Shielding is back up,etc.

Lastly, some thing to click and refresh :
Brace for Impact AA, 70 charges, and refresh it when it fades.
Imperator Command, 1 min duration, refresh after 2 min.

2)

a) The best disc to use remains our bread and butter defensive disc, that's Ultimate Stand Discipline at lvl 113 or more recently Resolute Stand at lvl 117. 3 minutes of 45 % mitigation. You will need first to remove your Courageous Defense disc slot running. It's advised to use Flash of Anger before starting it when the named is at camp to give time for the healer to start his heals.

When it's over,you can use Composite Shielding, then Guardian's Bravery, which are good mitigation discs used on their own. Don't forget to click back Courageous Defense when Ultimate Stand is down.

If they aren't up or when these one are down, you can clicking Roaring Shield the clicky from your BP, another good mitigation clicky that can be use on its own, should give you nearly 3 minutes of additional mitigation. If Composite Shielding and / or Warlord's Bravery are then up, click them one by one.

If they are still not up, you have our Warlord Bravery AA, 1 min 30 of an effect similar to Guardian Bravery. Composite Shielding will then for sure be up after Roaring Shield + Warlord Bravery, so use it, and follow with Guardian's Bravery.

If it's not over, you can use this combo Warlord Tenacity AA + Blood Drinker Coating clicky + Resplendent Glory AA, at least 2 min of nice boost.

If it's not over, your defensive disc will be back up, so you can run again 3 min of it, followed by 3 min of Roaring Shield, followed by 1 min of Composite Shielding, followed by 48 sec of Guardian Bravery.

So, in total you can last for duration of 3 min + 3 min + 1 min 30 + 1 min + 48 sec + 2 min + 3 min + 3 min + 1 min + 48 sec = 19 min 06, I hope the named will be down by then . Anyhow, this duration can also allow you to tackle 2 or more named that would pop close in duration back to back.


b) The ones that are too weak against a named are our Spire of the Warlord AA, Pain Doesn't Hurt or Diplomatic Paper or Resplendent Glory used alone on its own.

3)

When your disc slot is busy (by Ultimate Disc running for example), you can run 2 min of War Sheol Heroic Blade AA. If your warrior is grouped with a zerker (I see a zerker on your magelo), be careful that it won't run if Cry Carnage is yet running, so erase Cry Carnage from the song window of your warrior, and only click it back when War Sheol has run its course because Cry Carnage will also erase War Sheol running in your song window.

The 2 other best DPS discs require your disc slot free, so on trash mob you don't need good mitigation from Courageous Defense, you have Brutal Onslaught and Mighty Strike Disciplines discs.
Wait that War Sheol is down before using them, or you waste the effects of them. You can also use Vehement Rage AA which is not bad too with its increase to min dmg, at the cost of less healing on you.

When all of these are down, you can run Circle of Power clicky.

Finally, if you have a shaman that is running his epic clicking every 3 min, time all of the DPS disc listed before to use them during the 2 min timeframe that the shaman epic is not up, to maximize your damage output.

I agree with p2aa, with exception to this quote about buff stacking.

I think of warrior mitigation as three levels, front mitigation / melee guard (SPA 162), Rear Mitigation/Melee Threshold Guard (SPA451) and percent mitigation / Skill Damage Taken Incoming (SPA197). https://everquest.fanra.info/wiki/SPA_list

For SPA162, you have Brace for Impact and the No Time to Bleed / Pain Doesn't Hurt / Finish the Fight line. You also have diplomatic immunity which is pretty weak and I rarely use it. When grouping I hit them both on cooldown because my Brace for Impact typically doesn't last the entire duration and if a melee hit would be blocked by more damage by Finish the Fight, it will use up that charge instead of Impact Guard. It's been a while since I looked into this strategy so I could be mistaken / outdated on how it is.


[58522/15827] Finish the Fight Rk. II
Classes: WAR/112
Skill: Defense (Combat Skill)
Endurance: 1069
Target: Self
Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
Focusable: Yes
Casting: 0s, Recast: 5m, Timer: 18
Duration: 3m+ (30 ticks) Song, Dispelable: Yes
Max Hits: 600 Incoming Hits Or Spells Or DS
6: Absorb Melee Damage: 100%, Max Per Hit: 5933, Total: 2610500
8: Absorb Spell Damage: 100%, Max Per Hit: 5933, Total: 2610500

[54040/32177] Brace For Impact XIII
Classes: WAR/254
Skill: Defense
Target: Self
Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
Focusable: Yes
Casting: 0s
Duration: 10m+ (100 ticks), Dispelable: Yes
Max Hits: 70 Defensive Proc Casts
1: Add Defensive Proc: Impact Guard XIII with 300% Rate Mod
Text: You brace yourself for incoming attacks.

[54042/32178] Impact Guard XIII
Classes: WAR/254
Skill: Defense
Target: Self
Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
Focusable: Yes
Casting: 0s
Duration: 12s+ (2 ticks) Song, Dispelable: Yes
Max Hits: 12 Incoming Hit Successes
5: Absorb Melee Damage: 20%, Total: 190000

For SPA451 I try to have Composite Shielding, Breastplate clicky (Roaring Shield) or Warrior's Aegis running. Composite Shielding has a lot of other benefits (HP and aggro) so you may want to use it differently.

[61016/15832] Composite Shielding 6
Target: Self
Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
Focusable: Yes
Casting: 0s, Recast: 6s
Duration: 30s+ (5 ticks), Dispelable: Yes
Max Hits: 600 Incoming Hits Or Spells Or DS
2: Absorb Spell Damage: 40% over 10000, Total: 776000
3: Absorb Melee Damage: 40% over 15000, Total: 776000
4: Increase Max HP by 25%
5: Absorb DoT Damage: 30%, Total: 776000
10: Increase Hate Generated by 100%


[54179] Roaring Shield
Target: Self
Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
Focusable: No
Casting: 0s
Duration: 3m (30 ticks), Dispelable: Yes
2: Absorb Melee Damage: 50% over 25000, Total: 1741000
Text: You guard yourself with the sonic waves of your shout.
Absorbs 50% of incoming melee damage that exceeds 25000 points per hit for up to 1741000 total damage.
[62055/15925] Warrior's Aegis Rk. II
Classes: WAR/119
Skill: Alteration (Combat Skill)
Endurance: 2410
Target: Self
Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
Focusable: Yes
Casting: 0s, Recast: 10m, Timer: 16
Duration: 4m+ (40 ticks), Dispelable: Yes
Hate: 10506
2: Absorb Melee Damage: 80% over 25000, Total: 253000
Text: Your armor shimmers with radiance.
Book: Utility Beneficial/BlockBook: Timer 16Generates 10506 hatred in your target and grants a rune that will absorb 80% of incoming melee damage from any strike that exceeds 25000 HP. This rune will absorb a total of 253000 points of damage before fading.

For SPA197 / percent mitigation, you have Warlord's Bravery and Gladiator's Plate Chestguard of War which gives Guardian's Bravery
[54047/16097] Warlord's Bravery VIII
Classes: WAR/254
Skill: Abjuration
Target: Self
Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
Focusable: Yes
Casting: 0s
Duration: 48s+ (8 ticks), Dispelable: Yes
Max Hits: 105 Incoming Hit Successes
1: Decrease Hit Damage Taken by 15%
Text: You shift into a defensive posture.
Warlord's Bravery VIII, when activated, reduces incoming melee damage by 15% for 105 hits for 48 seconds.

[6392] Guardian's Bravery
Target: Self
Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
Focusable: Yes
Casting: 0s
Duration: 24s+ (4 ticks), Dispelable: Yes
1: Decrease Hit Damage Taken by 15%
Text: You shift into a defensive posture.
Causes you to take less damage for 24 seconds.

These three layers interact with your big hitters, Culminating Stand and Glyph.
[55041/15702] Culminating Stand Discipline Rk. III
Classes: WAR/108
Skill: Defense (Combat Skill)
Endurance: 2362, Upkeep: 12 per second
Target: Self
Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
Focusable: Yes
Casting: 0s, Recast: 10.5m, Timer: 2
Duration: 3m+ (30 ticks), Dispelable: No
Hate: 1
1: Increase Melee Mitigation by 45%
2: Add Melee Proc: Culminating Stand Effect III with 100% Rate Mod
3: Stacking: Block new spell if slot 2 is 'Add Melee Proc v85' and < 999999
Text: You steel yourself for a last stand.
Book: DisciplinesBook: Timer 02You adopt a defensive combat stance, reducing incoming base melee damage by 45%. There is a chance your physical attacks will trigger Culminating Stand Effect III, which will absorb up to 24319 melee damage before dissipating.
[21658/12750] Glyph of Dragon Scales IV
Classes: ALL/254
Skill: Melee
Target: Self
Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes
Focusable: No
Casting: 0s
Duration: 5m (50 ticks), Dispelable: No, Persist After Death
1: Increase Base Mitigation AC by 50%
2: Increase Base Avoidance AC by 50%
3: Absorb DoT Damage: 35%
4: Increase Max Mana by 20%
5: Absorb Spell Damage: 35% over 5000
6: Absorb Melee Damage: 35% over 5000
7: Increase Max HP by 20%
8: Increase Max Endurance by 20%
Increases your maximum base health, mana, and endurance by 20%, your base mitigation and base avoidance by 50%, protects against 35% of damage over time spells, and 35% of any direct damage spell or melee damage that exceeds 5000 points per hit.
This buff persists through death.





Being a good warrior is all about figuring out how this stuff stacks and balancing when you need to pop cooldowns to stay alive now vs keeping cooldowns to stay alive later. It's basically the same as stacking DPS buffs as a berserker and popping them at the right time in a fight. I'll regularly err on both sides of this. There's nothing like getting a dodgy pull, popping Fortitude discipline while tanking 20 mobs and following that up with everything and the kitchen sink to stay alive long enough for your group to whittle down those mobs to mortal levels. Surviving against those twenty mobs only to die to 5 because all your cooldowns are gone happens.

Thank you, both! This is exactly what I needed!

First of all, there are some things that needs to be up all the time.
In your disc slot, Courageous Defense.
Click a hotkey that triggers Paragon Champion + Commanding Voice, to click again every 10 min.
Also, not a mitigation disc, but remember to have Battle Leap up.

I have this hotkey but added 2 lines for food and drink. I have my best food/drink combo in my highest bag slot and a huge stack of lesser food and drink in the next two. When I hit Champion and Voice, I also try to eat and drink. This way, every 10 minutes I am full and never eat/drink the good stuff.

What about Blade Guardian? Worth having up since it lasts quite a while?

Lots of good info here. Guardian's Bravery (mentioned above) is the warrior Anguish BP click. If you didn't already faction up and farm that for the warrior (knowing you, you probably did), definitely do it.

If dying to named are your biggest problem, you definitely won't die (for at least 90 seconds) by stacking all your biggest stuff (Flash/Fortitude -> Culminating Stand + Finish the Fight + Composite -- you can also stack Anguish BP or Warlord's Bravery too in an "end times" situation), plus the commanding voice / paragon champion, etc. stuff that is always running and backing things down until you figure out the minimum you need to utilize to survive. Preferably, you are not using all of these simultaneously, as the drop off when they start to fade is large. Having Blade Guardian up before pulling a named is helpful too.

A common "group" disc cycle would be alternating Composite / Finish the Fight / Anguish BP to keep some kind of additional mitigation up all the time, as composite will come back up just as Guardian's Bravery is fading. Spam the shield sunder line for additional mitigation / synergy and save your big defensive disc and the alternative discs mentioned above (Warlord's Bravery, Tenacity, Spire, Resplendent Glory, rune lines, etc.) for pulls that are less than ideal.

Blade Guardian AA is more imo in the lacklustered category because, while it can last for a long time, when it triggers it will disappear in 1 sec, it's not doing anything while it's up until it triggers, good to use as a short term ability the time another good ability is back up, a bit like a DI.

I forgot to add also Warlord's Resurgence AA in the list of lacklustered abilities.

Regarding Warrior's Aegis I find it also lacklustered in group and raid content for 2 different reasons.
In raid, the raid boss melee dmg is so high that it fades in 5 sec.
In group content, it last its full duration, but is hardly used because groups mobs hitting for 25 k + is uncommon.

To make it more useful in group content, there should be a lesser hit threshold version, like for the Roaring Shield raid BP click with 25 k hits and the Roaring Shield group BP with its 12,5 k hits. Btw, I use the group one when I do group content.

As for a raid content's version, this is the total dmg absorbed cap of 250 k that is too low, could be multiplied by 10.

Blade Guardian and Warrior's Aegis are definitely in the category of "I'd be happy if they just deleted these". Same with Armor of Akhevan Runes, Levincrash Defense Discipline and Mark of the Mage Hunter. I use all of these but they are so minor they make good simplification candidates.