Paragon/Reaver Tanking Spec (Champ optional)

[Krodd_Mandoon]

So, bored at work and figured I would work on various builds. I'll probably try a Beastmaster/Paragon build next to see how it works out, but so far this seems to do very nicely.

This is a DPS/Tank hybrid...not sure how well it will hold up in higher tiered dungeons, but either way, it should definitely hold it's own in Rifts, and should also be able to solo a good amount of elites before needing to take a break and heal (if at all?)

http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=1c...VzcR.V.xzqt0hz

Paragon (39 pts):
+5% Constant Parry Buff: Duality of Mind (active while you spam Dual Strike)
+9% Constant Parry Buff: Grace of the Five Rings
+75% Parry Buff: Bend Like The Reed (active 10s/30s, leaving 20s without the buff, but this dead zone can be filled with other mitigation abilities)
Totals out to 89% Parry while Bend Like The Reed is up, WITHOUT Strength modifiers for Parry rating.

With Weapon Master you gain Attack Points very fast, and you can generate AP even faster due to Serenity (which returns Power to you when you dodge/parry), effectively making your next attack after each dodge/parry cost only 5 power. This should be good for keeping Bend Like The Reed, Strike Like Iron, and

Champion (5 pts):
Debilitating Strike is good to increase the amount of damage that you do, since it's on a 10 second cooldown you can easily throw this in for added damage if you feel like it.
Titan's Strength will net us +10% Strength, which is dependent on our current strength from gear, which should be pretty darn good, especially at 50. Strength amounts to more Parry rating, so...heck yea!
We also get Soldier's Bearing, and who can complain about an extra 5% increase in damage for free?


Reaver:
Power In The Blood seems like an excellent first-tier set to use (@<30% health, take 20% less damage). This can easily be combined (passively) with Predictable Movements to mitigate the total amount of damage taken in an "OHSHIIIIIT" situation. Very cool!

Soul Devour causes our Soul Feast to heal for 200% of it's damage, which is awesome. Combined with Planar Attunment, and especially Plague Bringer (DoTs can spread to up to 5 enemies, lasts 12 seconds, 10 second cooldown) makes our Soul Feast turn into an even larger powerhouse! Imbued Armor drops the total amount of damage taken by 5%, which is always good. And Grisly Works heals us 9% of our max health (MAX HEALTH) whenever we kill a monster.


Personally, I think it looks absolutely fantastic for a dual wielding warrior tank. I can imagine t his doing very well in PvP, but it might be best to replace Champion (lose the 10% Strength bonus, charge, and 5% damage buff) with Vindicator for the PvP talents (which are all awesome in their own right).

With AoE Soul Feast, two taunts, and the two cone attacks that Paragons get later (Path of the Hurricane, Thread the Trees), it should do nicely. If you sub out points you can pick up Flurry for even more aoe damage to keep aggro.

What does everyone think?

[Krodd_Mandoon]

Also:

Reaver has many +threat abilities. It has two direct taunts, and Sinister Intent will help hold aggro on even multiple mobs (Sinister Intent, Plague Bringer, Soul Sickness (with Soul Feast/Devour) maintain great aggro, enough that you are dealing damage, healing, generating threat on multiple monsters at once, all nearly passive (well, for the duration of Soul Sickness) allowing you to cycle through three Finishers (Paragon 'cone AoE' attacks, Reaver DoT finisher, and +parry finisher for Paragon).

[Krodd_Mandoon]

Also:

Reaver has many +threat abilities. It has two direct taunts, and Sinister Intent will help hold aggro on even multiple mobs (Sinister Intent, Plague Bringer, Soul Sickness (with Soul Feast/Devour) maintain great aggro, enough that you are dealing damage, healing, generating threat on multiple monsters at once, all nearly passive (well, for the duration of Soul Sickness) allowing you to cycle through three Finishers (Paragon 'cone AoE' attacks, Reaver DoT finisher, and +parry finisher for Paragon).

PS - I hate the ******ed "1 minute limit" for editing posts...

[Kruunch]

Also:

Reaver has many +threat abilities. It has two direct taunts, and Sinister Intent will help hold aggro on even multiple mobs (Sinister Intent, Plague Bringer, Soul Sickness (with Soul Feast/Devour) maintain great aggro, enough that you are dealing damage, healing, generating threat on multiple monsters at once, all nearly passive (well, for the duration of Soul Sickness) allowing you to cycle through three Finishers (Paragon 'cone AoE' attacks, Reaver DoT finisher, and +parry finisher for Paragon).

PS - I hate the ******ed "1 minute limit" for editing posts...

Won't hold up in instances.

[K_osss]

Bend like a reed increases your parry by 75%. So if you have a parry of 10% it will increase it to 17.5% not 85%. This can be seen in game when you look at your parry chance when bend like a reed is active.

[Krodd_Mandoon]

Bend like a reed increases your parry by 75%. So if you have a parry of 10% it will increase it to 17.5% not 85%. This can be seen in game when you look at your parry chance when bend like a reed is active.

Well now...I feel like a damned fool, don't I? Sheesh!

If only I was able to check it while here at work...y'know, earning money trolling forums.

Either way, it's a great build to play so far, and I've been doing well on minor rifts. I guess it'll suck then for instances. Too bad I can't edit/delete threads >.>

Thanks for the info!

[nocks]

You'll just need higher defense in instances, specifically.. you will need a shield. Parry/Dodge are just too random to keep you alive, it only takes 10 seconds of bad luck to drop you in a boss fight. Block just about doubles the amount of time it takes for you to die, giving the healer plenty of time to keep you alive.

[Krodd_Mandoon]

You'll just need higher defense in instances, specifically.. you will need a shield. Parry/Dodge are just too random to keep you alive, it only takes 10 seconds of bad luck to drop you in a boss fight. Block just about doubles the amount of time it takes for you to die, giving the healer plenty of time to keep you alive.

Thanks for that ;-) I may just stick back to the Paladin/Reaver combo that I was working with, which seemed pretty darned good with the block amount (took Warlord for the 5/5 increase in Armor as well).

[Aenarion]

Bend like a reed increases your parry by 75%. So if you have a parry of 10% it will increase it to 17.5% not 85%. This can be seen in game when you look at your parry chance when bend like a reed is active.

It's +75% don't know where you get the by 75%.

[K_osss]

It's +75% don't know where you get the by 75%.

When i check my parry rating in game while bend like a reed is active it says something in the mid to high 20% range.

Have you checked it in game?

[Aenarion]

When i check my parry rating in game while bend like a reed is active it says something in the mid to high 20% range.

Have you checked it in game?

The stats window in-game don't show most of the buffs. I don't think this was fixed.

[Kaezin]

Don't go off what the stat says, just try it in game and you'll see that it's definitely +75%. When combined with the other paragon parry buffs, it pretty much makes you invincible against melee mobs until it drops.

[Stefandk]

Nice spec and Help thanks sup

[Korvaene]

Soul Devour causes our Soul Feast to heal for 200% of it's damage, which is awesome. Combined with Planar Attunment, and especially Plague Bringer (DoTs can spread to up to 5 enemies, lasts 12 seconds, 10 second cooldown) makes our Soul Feast turn into an even larger powerhouse! Imbued Armor drops the total amount of damage taken by 5%, which is always good. And Grisly Works heals us 9% of our max health (MAX HEALTH) whenever we kill a monster.

I don't think Soul Devour heals for 200% of the damage from the abilities that trigger Soul Feast. According to the tool tip for Soul Devour, it increases the healing gained from the Soul Feast talent by 150%. If you get healed for 100 health through the Soul Feast talent, Soul Devour would bump that up to 150 health (100 * 150%), not 200. So you're actually getting healed for 75% of the damage from the abilities that trigger Soul Feast.

[Chochko]

http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0c...czzcM.vx0V0z0c

Paragon:
+75% parry - Bend like the Reed - 10s uptime, 30s cd
3 attacks negation - Predictable movements - 180s cd
14% parry
20% - 2 ap generation

Rift:
10% flat reduction in damage
6% parry
Some extra damage
1 attack negation - Stone shield - 30s cd

Warlord:
10% armor (This build is low on armor and those 10% offer great increase in mitigation of physical damage)
5% dodge + 3% after call (will be active most of the time)
5% reduced enemy hit chance (increase on both parry and dodge)
4% reduction in enemy AP/SP
Added HP - both from the tree spent points and the Aspect
5% damage reduction - Call to entrench - 18s uptime, 15s cd