I have never used tattoos, and friends are telling me I should be. Currently I am using Doom armour. I am hoping to eventually get Tallum. I just recently got a Tallum Blade w/haste (thanx to the piggie and medals events). I mostly solo, but when I do party, I tank. I am not sure what I should get. I thought maybe +2 str and -2 dex, which would give me +4 str,-2 con and -2 dex when I eventually get tallum armour. If not this configuration, then what? Also could you please explain what I would gain and what I would be giving up. Thank you for any information.
Well for one you’re never going to want to lower your DEX. I don't know many people who even lower their DEX at all ever. DEX just does way too many things for you to lower it. DEX affects your accuracy, evasion, shield defense rate, crit rate, and run speed. You are going to want to lower your CON to add to your STR for PvE. AS far as PvP goes it’s a toss up between adding or subtracting STR and CON. Mass PvP you are going to want CON because all you will be doing anyways is basically play a role as a meat shield and try to get off your aggression attacks so people will target you instead of your clan’s soft targets. For party PvP I’d say it would be better to have higher STR then CON.
Also as far as gear is concerned you are going to to either want NM heavy or DC heavy not Tallum Heavy. Tallum heavy is more of an armor for BDs, SWS, and Gladiators. Most Tanks use NM heavy. It just has the most p. def and m. def which tanks need to be able to tank. Plus the NM shield has more p.def then the DC shield anyways. The Tallum Blade with haste isn't a bad choice, but the Dark Legion's Edge is a better sword. It has more options better for a tank. It has SA health and Critical Damage and some might go for the Rsk Focus. All of those I just named off are good SAs for tanks and all of them are on the DLS.
Thanks for the reply, some people in game were saying the same thing about reducing con. I chose the Tallum blade because I had a realistic chance of buying one, especially after failing to make one( which was quite painful). I hope to get a dle w/health, but it will be some time before I can get one and it will have to wait till after the armour.
Most temple knights that I have seen in game wear Tallum with Nightmare shield. I believe they went for it because of the extra damage which is why I chose it. According to the website it has the same pdef as DC. I have only seen one Tk wearing nightmare. And looking at the stats, I think most don't choose it because of the minus dexterity. At the moment I already have the gloves and it comes down again to funds. Which I don't have. So it looks like I will be wearing Doom for sometime. Again, thank you for the advice.
Hi there Calladan,
Ultimately you need to play to the strengths of the TK, as few as there are. As LRN points out don't lower your Dex.
At higher level the game really focuses on specialisations or perhaps optimisations. Tanks are no different. You need to identify in what you wish to specialise, select your armour and weapon and only then apply your tatoo's to either offset your armour penalties or accentuate the strengths offered to you by your chosen armour. Regardless of which armour you chose Dex is still the primary stat for the TK and one from which they derive their relevance. So this may dictate how you set up your tats, for eg in the Case of NM heavy I chose to pay off the -2dex and dropped str leveraging off the con to essentially arrive at base stat, and then went on to drop 1 pt of str and up my dex by 1. This works well and I'll probably go one more in the near future although I don't want to dip my p.atk too low as it will begin to affect your ability to hold aggro against high level DD's
Ultimately you need your dex for crits and run speed. These two are your greatest assets. At 76+ your skills also begin to channel you towards a more mobile anti mage role although the imbalance between M.atk and M.def, even with boss jewelery is still staggering and the job of mage hunter is a very tough one. Magic Mirror works reasonably well (30%) against non direct effects and tends to suprise Necro's, OLs and WC's from time to time.
The armour choice for A grade comes down to two sets. Nightmare or Dark Crystal as those are the only two sets that come integral with a shield, the bread and butter of tanking. Even though DC has a higher shield block rate, it is not sufficiently high to account for the damage reduction offered by the significantly higher p.def of NM. Additionally the 4% heal bonus on DC is laughable in comparison to the 4% p.atk bonus on NM. Even the resistances offered by the two armour sets are such that NM is the first choice for both PvE and PVP. I've seen TKs in Majestic but again they focusing on DPS, its also considered for PvE where there is a high % of stun mobs, due to its inherent stun resist bonus. Again it would depend on how you specialised and what was your ultimate intent as part of your party playstyle. The majestic spec is sustainable in high end XP groups where DPS is everything. For a more PvP and less offensive posture NM is definitely better. The % damage reflection is not significant most of the time, its ok vs raid bosses, but is really designed for DA's and those who can affort boss jewels where you can stack your reflect damage effects to get a reasonable overall bonus (I believe its around 40% with boss jewels for DA's, lower for others)
For the time being stick with your Doom. It is still considered a very viable set for raid boss tanking, esp if you OE it to get the bonuses. IMO the stats for it are pretty much optimised for what you need when it comes to tanking so I wouldn't bother with further tats. However, if you are desperate to try something then burn Con for Dex. You will notice an increase to your DPS through crits. Do not drop str below -3 it is too large a p.atk sacrifice and one that you will not be able to make up unless you have a ridiculously OE'd weapon to offset it...
When it comes to weapons, its more of a what you can afford as opposed to what is best ;). The Tallum with haste is definitely the way to go and you can have a crack at overenchanting it to boost your p.atk.
DLE's are nice but don't give TK's what they thrive on and that is focus. The only other SA that compares with focus for DPS is haste but due to the LE's higher dex the focus is statistically better over time.
The DLE has neither focus nor haste. It does have risk focus, which is difficult to play with for elves in general due to our low con. Whilst some ppl have made it work, its still fraught with danger esp if you have a dodgy healer.
Crit Damage or Health are far better options for LEs and most ppl seem to be of the opinion that health really gives you the best bang for buck (esp in PVP). Crit damage is IMO preferrable for PvE/XP groups where healing is generally not that much of an issue and it helps a lot better in maintaining aggro.
Good luck with your TK and I hope you find it as enjoyable as I've found mine :)
Regards,
Ellyrion Fiallathandriel - "The Reckless Knight"
Eva's Templar
Kain
+4str-4con all the way. dex wont give u a big boost no matter what others tell u, tho str will make u hit like u had a +7 tallum blade. dex also barely affects block rate. not worth boosting it
get a tallum heavy set and u ll be good to go for xp. soloing will be great. and the few times u need to tank, just dont get zerk, and choose greater shield over greater might. having a good healer will help also. no matter how much -str-dex++con u go it wont save u if u or others make the wrong choices