Hello all, I'm a new player on EQ2, and was thinking of leveling up a tank, one of my favorite roles in these types of games. From what I've read so far, it seems the big use of the tank at endgame is to deal with bulwark/barrage, which certainly isn't a mechanic I've seen anywhere else. Was hoping to get a better picture of what this actually is, and what to expect. How do barrages work? Are they literal or just functional deathtouches? Are there any differences between a raid and a heroic barrage? What is a "continued barrage" that I've heard about? And which fighter classes can currently handle surviving the entirety of multiple barrages solely through using their own abilities in the whole fight, without healer DR/DP's/Infuriating Thorns/etc.? (I believe I heard that only Paladin and Guardian could do this, but I'm unsure if that's true) Thank you in advance to any and all responses- I really appreciate it!!
Starting in the Chaos Descending expansion, and continuing into the Blood of Luclin expansion, all heroic and raid bosses have "barrage" attacks. The exact name varies from place to place, but it always includes the word barrage. All fighters receive an ability called Bulwark of Order, which can be used to prevent most of the damage. The exact wording implies that the spell protects everyone except the fighter who used it, but it grants some protection to the caster as well. In some raid fights, a "missed bulwark" also stuns the group, and casting the spell prevents the stun. If you use ACT, there are various triggers that call out "Bulwark" or "Bulwark <Player>". I have too many to list here, and some of them might not even work. I raid on a Paladin, and I have no trouble mitigating or healing through all of the damage. In heroics, I just cast Bulwark of Order and don't worry about it any further. In raids, I also cast Devout Sacrament (which I have spec'd for 40% damage reduction). If that's not up, I'll spam wards and throw in Lay on Hands (which I have spec'd for a stoneskin) at the last second. The Guardian in my raid doesn't seem to have any problems, though I don't know what he is specifically doing. I can't speak for other classes.
Garbage mechanic added with the sole purpose of making tank classes needed for heroic/raid content. You can still do heroics w/o provided you have enough dps and blow past the named before the first barrage and even if it lands, you can survive through it. On guardian, i don't bother putting anything up except hit bulwark when i hear the ACT trigger. In raids, anything like tower of stone or perfect counter prior to it landing does the job. If your healers are on point, then there won't be a problem with you not having stuff up at that point. Do however cast Bulwark. I have tanked raids on my SK and tbh barrage did not require anything additional other than simple buffs you would use normally.
All fighters can handle the barrage. And in heroics, decent healers will handle a missed bulwark, or a tank-less group eating the barrage. It was a bit tastier in CD, when huge damage or deathtouch would follow the raid barrage and you had to think about things a bit more. I play monk, with channeller/mystic healing. The barrage is never an issue, even when I run pact of the fire tyrant, so the chan is effectively solo healing. I do tend to cycle provoking stance/stone cold after the barrage just to ease any spikes, but tbh my healers are so good it's never really necessary.
My unpopular opinion was that I really liked the bulwarks last year. Really made you think about temps and what you could afford to keep for it. Then again, I played a templar, so it mostly just made me feel useful.
