05-10-2005, 06:24 PM
I'm going to reverse the order of your comments to address them...
Oh no, I meant nothing of the sort! :o I haven't had the opportunity to play with you, so I don't know your style. A lot of what I was saying was just background so you'd know where I was coming from... sorry if I sounded preachy in the process.
Good, 'cause that's what I was actually shooting for. ;)
Now that I understand your approach a little better, I think you're on the right track moving off the arms tree. I guess to go into it a little deeper... most pulls in the higher-end instances will be multiple crowd-control pulls, and there'll be almost zero use for Charge. Intercept is of dubious utility, as 90% of the mobs in Strat/Scholo/BRS are going to stand, fight, and die. Overpower is about the only important reason to switch out of Defensive, and even that's iffy. I know I'm about to tell you more stuff you already know, but I'm only doing it to explain my thought process. :)
You don't need rage to hold aggro on a mob you initially pull (unless you're grouped with bozos who unload the arsenal as soon as the war starts); the first couple of whacks are enough to get off a sunder, and then your rage bar is off to the races. I mean, you'll still have to spend some rage to maintain your lockdown, but the idea that you have to spam Sunder and Shield Bash is a little overblown; I spend more of my rage on the beautiful sight of my Revenge icon lighting up than anything. After that, it's just a matter of retaining enough rage to be able to break sheep/shackle by using a Sunder, which is almost always enough to trump the mage/priest's aggro. (Sap isn't really an issue, as just shooting a sapped mob is generally enough.) As a result, I just don't ever see a need to flip stances around in PvE. Even before I respecced, I wasn't getting much benefit in the long run; due to the way mobs are usually pulled in the high-end instances, charging is usually just not a good idea anyway.
Gnollguy,May 10 2005, 01:39 PM Wrote:Yeah, I'm being a little sensitive on this, I know I'm a pretty good tank and your advice pretty much came off as "try to learn how to tank" even if you didn't intend it that way. I've never had mortal strike or sweeping strikes, I know how to live without them. :)
Oh no, I meant nothing of the sort! :o I haven't had the opportunity to play with you, so I don't know your style. A lot of what I was saying was just background so you'd know where I was coming from... sorry if I sounded preachy in the process.
Quote:So I've only just started playing with heavy stance switching. I'm completely comfortable not doing it all.
Since I haven't seen anything past Sunken Temple as far as instances go you sort of answered the question I was actually asking.
Good, 'cause that's what I was actually shooting for. ;)
Quote:I want to know what kind of utility a stance switch will have there. If those points in that tree really make any difference for end game. I enjoy some of the utility they bring, but I certianly don't need it. I want to know how much less utility they will have and if putting 3 or 8 points somewhere else will help.
Now that I understand your approach a little better, I think you're on the right track moving off the arms tree. I guess to go into it a little deeper... most pulls in the higher-end instances will be multiple crowd-control pulls, and there'll be almost zero use for Charge. Intercept is of dubious utility, as 90% of the mobs in Strat/Scholo/BRS are going to stand, fight, and die. Overpower is about the only important reason to switch out of Defensive, and even that's iffy. I know I'm about to tell you more stuff you already know, but I'm only doing it to explain my thought process. :)
You don't need rage to hold aggro on a mob you initially pull (unless you're grouped with bozos who unload the arsenal as soon as the war starts); the first couple of whacks are enough to get off a sunder, and then your rage bar is off to the races. I mean, you'll still have to spend some rage to maintain your lockdown, but the idea that you have to spam Sunder and Shield Bash is a little overblown; I spend more of my rage on the beautiful sight of my Revenge icon lighting up than anything. After that, it's just a matter of retaining enough rage to be able to break sheep/shackle by using a Sunder, which is almost always enough to trump the mage/priest's aggro. (Sap isn't really an issue, as just shooting a sapped mob is generally enough.) As a result, I just don't ever see a need to flip stances around in PvE. Even before I respecced, I wasn't getting much benefit in the long run; due to the way mobs are usually pulled in the high-end instances, charging is usually just not a good idea anyway.
Darian Redwin - just some dude now