So i have tried running with this Pally friend in VD with fully geared Potent/fabled combo gear, Pally he failed miserably. seems the crusaders struggle alot more with all the stuns even tho this guy had stun adorns and spec'ed for it, he still stayed blacked out on the hot-bar, My sk struggled to get through the zone with same gear i was at the edge of my seat hoping the healer could get a heal off on some fights between my skins. The temp's and the zealous smite did't seem to be effective at all with back to back stun / stifles. The issue with this? Crusaders have to cast abilities to stay alive with current content. Bad mechanics IMO with mobs Chain stun/stiffle that do not clear half the time and abilities and proc have a "Chance" to work, Crusaders need more Reactive spells with a duration this would help out to get them inline with content, Id suggest a 20sec reactive heal either offensive or defensive proc. realistically the SK's should have an offensive AOE lifetap over time ability anyways. Pally should have more heal over time Group heal proc abilities. Im not saying the classes suck they are very Awesome class's and i love playing my SK, but they are lacking and struggling with current content, Not as bad as the guardian mind you . seems these classes are relying on the stoneskins more mainly because the heal abilities just are not able to keep up due to casting times and reuse. The only way i can keep up is to space out my skins and hope the healer can heal the gaps. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, Please comment for reasonable suggestions.
Stun != Cannot cast hostile/beneficial. Every tank has to cast things to stay alive in this content. Use your abilities during the mob's castbar. I never had any trouble tanking VD with a solo healer on my SK in 0/3 gem potent and heroic tank jewelry. Any one of: Chaotic Blade, Hateful Respite, Blood Siphon, CF(optional: +DM or Draconic Shout), Furor, DA/ToD/LC (depending on mob) will keep you up through a stun/kb. Keep your mit temps up as often as possible too. As far as defensive aa setup: http://beetny.com/eq2aa/#GU68;ht012...001t503312100103303310@31t70aa109aa010@3a0@31
I have to say that I find it far easier to tank this zone on my zerk than on my Paladin. Truth be told, I rolled the zerk BECAUSE of this zone. That said, I've cleared it on both. High mitigation is your friend. I'm assuming your are mostly referring to the 3rd named. If you have 2 casters in the group, have one cure the arcane off a healer and the other clear the tank. That will allow the tank to throw up a defensive ability if one isn't already up. We also normally run with 2 healers. We have one focus on curing the arcane and the other cures the trauma. The arcane is the super important one to get cured ASAP. The healer responsible for the arcane should literally queue their group cure while under the effect so that it triggers immediately upon their being cured by a caster. Cure macros for the casters are important too. If you are struggling still, a dirge or conjuror can be a big help for the stoneskin proc buff throughout the zone. I haven't run my SK through it but I've healed an SK successfully in a PUG through the zone so it can definitely be done.
it's another thing with the crusader that one of our temp 'stoneskin' type abilities is rendered entirely useless in VD. Divine Favor is the 'if the mob hits you for under 50% of your hp, it stoneskins it'. 99% of the time they certainly DON"T hit me for less then 50% my hp, even when my hp is over a mil, rending one of our 'deathsave' abilities entirely useless. an the only other 2 I have asd a pally is stonewall, 10 seconds like every 30-40, and the 4 second dmg/reflect. they just don't come up that fast. I thin Divine Favor should simply have it's health requirement taken off. give me 2 reliable (in current content) deathsaves, since they are both on rather lengthy timers.
As a Paladin, you've got a few other tools. 1) Lay on Hands stoneskin that only triggers if the hit is over 15% of your max health. (not great, but it counts) 2) Draconic Shout to give you +25% max health (and make divine aura more useful) 3) Devout Sacrament - 35% damage reduction for 12 seconds (or more if you've got +beneficial duration) w/ a 45sec recast 4) Sigil for 20% extra mit w/ a 1 min recast Add in Divine Aura, Faith, your self death prevent, and healer emergencies/saves and a Paly has tons of tools to work with here. I main a Warlock. I alt a Warden I also alt a Paly very rarely, and he has tanked this with 1 healer. http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/character_detail/433792558487 This is his spec/gear. It stinks. Not saying it is a good spec. Just saying it can be done.
