Some Black Guard suggestions for BG Tank
Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 8:48 pm
Howdy
New player, actually first post on this forum, still checking things out. One of my characters is a Black Guard. I can't help but notice that it's tanking tree is somewhat.. lacking vs others.
I love theorycrafting....
Suggestions:
[*] Terrifying Foe (first tactic in the tanking tree): make the + toughness buff, also apply to your dark protector. (perhaps this sharing part is conditional; if you are wearing a shield?)
compared to KotBS or Chosen, these tanks offer AoE buffs/debuffs. BG & IB mostly buff 1 single teammate. This still takes up a tactics slot, and the toughness bonus isn't all that strong either imo.
Suppose you are at 1000 toughness. ooh, with 90 hate, you get boosted to 1450. That extra 450 toughness, afaik, reduces the damage of each hit, by 90 (do correct me if I'm wrong). BEFORE resistances/armor. Your DPS or healer 'dark protector' won't be at 1k toughness most likely. It also requires you to be within melee range and use a global cooldown & some action points on 'Hateful Strike'. Still, it would provide some damage reduction vs dots.
Further, it would be nice to see greater granularity in the + toughness boost. Suppose it gave +0.5% toughness per hate. Would this be broken? Or, +5% toughness per 10 hate.
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[*]None Shall pass : not a channeled ability. Lower the +block bonus, in favor of adding damage reduction to self, and your guarded target? For 10s +20% block, and your guarded target & you, take only 80% damage. Each time you block, build 5 hate, deal damage back, but also drain 5? 10? action points. 50 action points to cast?
a channeled ability? seriously?
BG does not have a pure, 100% reliable, % damage reduction. IB can take two tactics, 'seasoned veteran' to take 85% damage for 5s after a block (I recon this can have a pretty high up-time), or their +block tactic in stone tree, for permanent 95% damage taken. KotBS has an amazing 50% damage reduction skill (of course, at the top of the tree, and yes, it requires a shield and has a cooldown too).
(making this work on your guarded instead of dark protector target is purely to be a bit different. )
Not being a channeled ability, offering reliable damage reduction, including to 1 other player, is worth losing a lot of the block chance for imo.
'only' being 20%, with a 30s cooldown: it is the first ability on the tree after all...
even so, if it is indeed changed to affect an ally (whether your guarded target, or your dark protector), it could be moved to the second ability place in the tree.
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[*] Spiteful slam Make it require a shield, but also make it possible to be triggered from a parry.
That's also how it is in the IB's case btw...
BG does not have a huge amount of block chance, and I just removed some more technically.
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[*]Anger drives me +2% parry AND dodge per 10 hatred
Order has 2 ranged dps classes that deal non-magical damage. Seems strange how they are left out imo.
Also up to +30% parry seemed a bit strong to me; i.e. inviting for 2h DPS.
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[*] Wave of Scorn reduce the AP cost.
30 AP seems plenty. IB's is 25 and a full AoE, plus dmg scaling with grudges.
(but IB builds grudge less easy, and is a different class)
Another option would be to keep the AP cost, but add some bonus effect...
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[*]Shielded by hate Your block chance is increased by 10%. Anytime you block an attack, there is a 10% +5% per 10 hatred chance, that you'll remove 1 curse/hex/ailment from yourself & your dark protector, once every 3 seconds.
So, at 50 hatred: 35% chance that when you block, you'll remove a debuff.
This tactic deserved a buff.
Could even include a heal effect when the cleanse happens.
The BG's block tactic is pretty high up in the shield tree. BG does not have a whole lot of other +block buffs. (if you have a lot of +block, adding even more +block becomes all the better, as it removes a larger % of the attacks that you don't block)
The cleansing effect could be limited, it doesn't have to be curse/hex/ailment; it could be 2/3 etc.
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[*] Force of FuryMake it cost hatred, have it both reduce chance of being critically hit, and damage taken from a crit, and make it buff nearby allies, and lower the cooldown.
Path of Loathing is the only tree, for both BG & IB, that has no ability in it costing hatred/grudges. (in fact, ALL of the IB's abilities inside the tree's, either use grudge, or scale with it)
Force of Fury can also be made into the BG's tank 'group buff'.
Costs 40 Hatred (the highest cost of any IB or BG ability).
+ armor: as is.
Reduces your chance to be critically hit, and the damage you take from crits, based on your Hatred. Your dark protector is also affected etc.
Per 10 Hate, -3%.
(currently: at 60 hate: -30% less likely to be crit. Proposed: -18%, and also takes -18% less bonus damage from attacks that DO crit)
In addition all allies within 30 feet of you or your dark protector, gain 50 action points, 50 morale and +10% damage on their next critical hit within 10s.
10s cooldown.
So you could use this as a pseudo KotBS aura effect. But it costs 40 hatred, and don't you have other abilities you want to spend it on?
If it is too weak, reduce the hatred cost, or buff the % vs crit chance & crit damage. If too strong, reduce the action & morale amount.
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Path of Loathing:
[*]Elite training just include 'dodge' in addition to parry & interrupt.
it just bothers me that BG has little affecting non-magic ranged, when order has 2 such classes, vs 1 on destro...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My apologies for the wall of text...
New player, actually first post on this forum, still checking things out. One of my characters is a Black Guard. I can't help but notice that it's tanking tree is somewhat.. lacking vs others.
I love theorycrafting....
Suggestions:
[*] Terrifying Foe (first tactic in the tanking tree): make the + toughness buff, also apply to your dark protector. (perhaps this sharing part is conditional; if you are wearing a shield?)
compared to KotBS or Chosen, these tanks offer AoE buffs/debuffs. BG & IB mostly buff 1 single teammate. This still takes up a tactics slot, and the toughness bonus isn't all that strong either imo.
Suppose you are at 1000 toughness. ooh, with 90 hate, you get boosted to 1450. That extra 450 toughness, afaik, reduces the damage of each hit, by 90 (do correct me if I'm wrong). BEFORE resistances/armor. Your DPS or healer 'dark protector' won't be at 1k toughness most likely. It also requires you to be within melee range and use a global cooldown & some action points on 'Hateful Strike'. Still, it would provide some damage reduction vs dots.
Further, it would be nice to see greater granularity in the + toughness boost. Suppose it gave +0.5% toughness per hate. Would this be broken? Or, +5% toughness per 10 hate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[*]None Shall pass : not a channeled ability. Lower the +block bonus, in favor of adding damage reduction to self, and your guarded target? For 10s +20% block, and your guarded target & you, take only 80% damage. Each time you block, build 5 hate, deal damage back, but also drain 5? 10? action points. 50 action points to cast?
a channeled ability? seriously?
BG does not have a pure, 100% reliable, % damage reduction. IB can take two tactics, 'seasoned veteran' to take 85% damage for 5s after a block (I recon this can have a pretty high up-time), or their +block tactic in stone tree, for permanent 95% damage taken. KotBS has an amazing 50% damage reduction skill (of course, at the top of the tree, and yes, it requires a shield and has a cooldown too).
(making this work on your guarded instead of dark protector target is purely to be a bit different. )
Not being a channeled ability, offering reliable damage reduction, including to 1 other player, is worth losing a lot of the block chance for imo.
'only' being 20%, with a 30s cooldown: it is the first ability on the tree after all...
even so, if it is indeed changed to affect an ally (whether your guarded target, or your dark protector), it could be moved to the second ability place in the tree.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[*] Spiteful slam Make it require a shield, but also make it possible to be triggered from a parry.
That's also how it is in the IB's case btw...
BG does not have a huge amount of block chance, and I just removed some more technically.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[*]Anger drives me +2% parry AND dodge per 10 hatred
Order has 2 ranged dps classes that deal non-magical damage. Seems strange how they are left out imo.
Also up to +30% parry seemed a bit strong to me; i.e. inviting for 2h DPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[*] Wave of Scorn reduce the AP cost.
30 AP seems plenty. IB's is 25 and a full AoE, plus dmg scaling with grudges.
(but IB builds grudge less easy, and is a different class)
Another option would be to keep the AP cost, but add some bonus effect...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[*]Shielded by hate Your block chance is increased by 10%. Anytime you block an attack, there is a 10% +5% per 10 hatred chance, that you'll remove 1 curse/hex/ailment from yourself & your dark protector, once every 3 seconds.
So, at 50 hatred: 35% chance that when you block, you'll remove a debuff.
This tactic deserved a buff.
Could even include a heal effect when the cleanse happens.
The BG's block tactic is pretty high up in the shield tree. BG does not have a whole lot of other +block buffs. (if you have a lot of +block, adding even more +block becomes all the better, as it removes a larger % of the attacks that you don't block)
The cleansing effect could be limited, it doesn't have to be curse/hex/ailment; it could be 2/3 etc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[*] Force of FuryMake it cost hatred, have it both reduce chance of being critically hit, and damage taken from a crit, and make it buff nearby allies, and lower the cooldown.
Path of Loathing is the only tree, for both BG & IB, that has no ability in it costing hatred/grudges. (in fact, ALL of the IB's abilities inside the tree's, either use grudge, or scale with it)
Force of Fury can also be made into the BG's tank 'group buff'.
Costs 40 Hatred (the highest cost of any IB or BG ability).
+ armor: as is.
Reduces your chance to be critically hit, and the damage you take from crits, based on your Hatred. Your dark protector is also affected etc.
Per 10 Hate, -3%.
(currently: at 60 hate: -30% less likely to be crit. Proposed: -18%, and also takes -18% less bonus damage from attacks that DO crit)
In addition all allies within 30 feet of you or your dark protector, gain 50 action points, 50 morale and +10% damage on their next critical hit within 10s.
10s cooldown.
So you could use this as a pseudo KotBS aura effect. But it costs 40 hatred, and don't you have other abilities you want to spend it on?
If it is too weak, reduce the hatred cost, or buff the % vs crit chance & crit damage. If too strong, reduce the action & morale amount.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Path of Loathing:
[*]Elite training just include 'dodge' in addition to parry & interrupt.
it just bothers me that BG has little affecting non-magic ranged, when order has 2 such classes, vs 1 on destro...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My apologies for the wall of text...