So, I've looked around a bit and didn't see it, so here's my question. Is anyone tanking with a shield or is everyone just DW'ing these days? I came back to the game not too long ago and when I quit after RoK we were all still rocking bucklers lol. I am currently DW'ing while soloing and on easy fights but on the tough stuff I have a macro to switch to a 1H+shield. Just wanted to know if I'm just a scrub while catching up on gear or what... Thanks for any input.
Not sure there's a right answer. If you can get it done with DW then go for it. If you are making things tough on the healer, go sword and board. I use a shield in any circumstance where I am tanking, and otherwise if just adventuring I DW.
DW is still required if you are having difficulty with aggro due to group setup. playing a healer as well, it is easier to keep 1 person healed than random people in the group who can be one shot.
Your survivability will plummit without a shield, but you'll pump out more dps. Dual weild if you think you can survive no problem, but if it's difficult content then you absolutely need to equip a shield. Just don't complain about survivability if you're not wearing a shield *eyeroll*
Yeah. I mean why should ANY tank be able to maintain top survivability while DW'ing or using a 2h....
Bruener wrote: The equivalent tradeoff for brawlers is in going offensive vs. defensive. But with that said, lets keep the brawler vs. SK fighting out of the zerker class forums. This is not the place for it.
personally, right now, i run almost exclusively with a 2h (i havent yet gained access to another 1h that would give me better dps than the 2h) i almost never use a shield, because we rely on dps for agro, going sword and board lowers our agro. im wearing 4 parts EM raid gear 3 parts rygorr currently and i OT the EM raid zones. i HATE being forced into using sword and board, especially as we get no compensation for dps by doing so like some of the other tank classes.
Craized@Splitpaw wrote: My avoidance is so terrible I just go 2h as well, I just don't see much of a difference in survivability when I switch. Probably because so much happens for us when we get hit. Theres almost no way I can hold aggro without getting hit... if we don't get hit gibe doesn't work, just one example, also 25% of all damage we take goes to take, its just stupid to go with anything else besides 2h or dualweilding. Unfortunitely our survability is low, we need Blood Rage to be a percent based heal like Meditative Healing. - Meditative Healing - Heals the monk by 3% at rank 1 to 15% at rank 5 when the monk takes over 40% damage - Blood Rage - 33% Chance when hit with a melee weapon to heal for 700-1000 (Which isn't even 5% of 45k HP). So basicly Monks have a 100% Chance to heal for 15% ON ALL damage (since mobs hit so hard) Berserkers have a 33% Chance on only a melee hit to heal for 3%. Blood Rage needs to be changed to percent based and heal for 10%. If I was a Monk I would probably have alot more HP, probably up to 48k, So that would be like a 7200 Heal whenever I got hit. But anyways, this game wasn't made for classes to ba balanced.
Um meditative healing barely goes off since you need to get hit for 41% of your health in a SINGLE HIT, no multi atks, flurries, aoe dots, etc. If you want blood rage changed into the same exact thing. I think it will be a great idea to help you somewhat for raid tanking without it being overpowered in raids either (although its completely useless in all other content). It might be better if this effect was a secondary effect on bloodrage since its absolutely useless in anything other then raids. If blood rage had a striaght 10% heal it would be completely broken. Furthermore you are intentionally increasing your damage taken by fighting in offensive stance without a shield so you have ZERO uncontested block And then complaining you take to much damage. If you dont see much survivability using a shield you should probably use ACT on those raids since uncontested avoidance is the only avoidance that matters there or stop fighting SOLO mobs because you have no idea what you are talking about.
Bruener wrote: I know its like being forced into defensive stance to have ANY uncontested block/strikethrrough immunity. We all cant be like bruener and tank in offensive stance using sword and board with knights stance giving us an extra 25% auto atk modifer and no delay penalty from dual wielding.
Bruener wrote: I like how with just one line (not mentioning any class), Bruener managed to draw out a monk and a bruiser to post and defend the brawers class in a zerker forum. You have become better at baiting!!! [450/450]
Lcneed wrote: Its not baiting when every single post of his is about nerfing brawlers and then lying about his own class.
Craized@Splitpaw wrote: Just thought I'd retort to this as it's not exactly right: In defensive stance with a shield, every time we block an attack we cast 'provoking counterattack on our victim' which increases our threat. Granted it might not be wonderful, but it is something. In any event, if we're in a group and the main tank, we're there to take the hits primarily, not do dps. Of course our dps is linked in many cases to our ability to hold aggro so it's a trade off, but it's no good holding aggro if the healer can't keep you standing. If you're having trouble holding aggro in shield & Board, just tell the dpsers to slow down a little bit, if they don't listen, just get in the healer's ear and tell them to 'let' one of the dpsers that continually pulls aggro off you die in battle. They'll soon get the picture. Afterall, being in a group is about... working as a team, oddly enough. .
Lyger@Permafrost wrote: As I said about, I don't agree. It's far simpler - and smarter - to tell the dpsers to hold back so you can keep aggro, rather than force the healer to work harder/over their limit just so you can hold it. Of course, it depends upon the group you're with... Good groups are a dream to adventure with, bad group are, well... bad.
The healer can't keep you standing when you don't have aggro and hes dead. You also produce alot more threat taking a hit via mythical then you do that blocking buff.
Thalesian wrote: you can disagree all you want, it is a playstyle of this game that DPS classes will DPS as it is their job. everyone in a group has to work towards a goal, sometimes some classes have to work harder than others depending on your group makeup. if the healer can't keep up i obviously back off some or toss on a shield, if the DPS keeps up and dies i shrug it off and keep working as there isn't jack i can do about it. common sense should tell anyone that if they keep yanking aggro that they should slow down, if they keep dying it is their repair bill not mine. i don't bother telling anyone how to play just like i take offense when someone tells me how to tank not knowing anything about how hard i am working to do the job.
After almost a month without my post being answered there was suddenly a lot going on here. Been a while since I checked hehe. Long story short I'm catching up on gear and sticking with my macros to trade from DW to sword&board. I just DW in offensive so mobs die faster unless I notice I'm spiking or the healer is struggling. Mostly I've only had to switch to the shield, its not often I've needed to go defensive. Been working well so far. Yes a DPS' role in a group is DPS but I make it a point not to group with people too stupid to control their own aggro. If you keep ripping aggro, unless I happen to like you I won't try and save you. After all, the instant you die I'll have the aggro right back...
Lyger@Permafrost wrote: It's strange, cause I do disagree with what you originally said, but I do agree with what you said in your last paragraph. Also, yes, it is far simpler keeping one person alive than trying to keep multiple people alive at once (I've played a healer for many years as well). Common sense should definitely play a role, but it hardly ever seems to in a group. However, not communicating in a group - it's not telling people how to play, rather asking them to work more insinc with the group - is a big mistake I think. Group work is all about working together/communicating to get a job done afterall isn't it? One just has to be diplomatic about it; There's definitely a right and a wrong way to go about getting any message across.
Zeuhl27 wrote: Yeah, it's all about balance it think. And the great things is that players can successfully both tank in either/both setups I believe. Personally, I use sword and board all the time (soloing and grouping) and am totally AAed (the way I see it anyways) for tanking/defensive. Others like it and play the other way . Totally up to you.
