[Black Ork] Usefulness

[Rixyl]

I'm asking it here because Black Ork is the class I'm most worried about however this pretty much extends to some other classes. I'm somewhat new to this game (I say that because I've player very sporadically over the last 5ish years) and just getting into large scale PvP and its quite fun. The thing I'm running into is that I much prefer 2H BO over SnB and I'm wondering how bad am I shooting myself in the foot for that? So far I'm just in T1 but I die so fast it feels like I'm playing a DPS without any damage. I can't even solo most healers and a DPS in a 1v1 kills me in 2-3 seconds flat if I get caught after a respawn or something. Another thing I'm curious about is the state of later open pvp, are 2H tanks trolling by comparison or will I actually be not just useful but relevant. Thanks!

[Florian90210]

You're tank, you have to do tank's job. In mass RvR you can't go with 2H, you will be killed by ranged classes really fast because you're not holding a shield. 2H only good in SCs, also with top gear you can go solo.
I hope you learned about how to use guard, challenge.

[anstalt]

2handed tanks aren't really tanks.

That's ultimately the truth of things, but seems to be especially true of black orcs.


As sword'n'board, your survivability comes from block, armour value, and toughness. If you switch to 2h, you lose block but gain parry. You can get your parry levels pretty high, but parry is inferior to block. You keep your armour value, so you're good against physical damage. But you'll lose toughness in order to get high levels of strength and weaponskill.


But, it's really in the utility that the switch to 2h is bad. You lose the cant hit me channel which is a real lifesaver for BOs. You lose not in da face, which is great for annoying the enemy. You lose we'z bigger which reduces incoming damage for the whole group....and gives you an extra group sprint if you use the linecracka tactic, something i love because BOs really have no mobility. You can't use Ya Missed Me to reduce enemy DPS by 20%, because it requires a block. Theres another skill you lose too because it requires a shield.

Its a lot of utility to lose, much of which increases survivability for you and the group. And the only compensation is more damage. But still a lot less damage than a real damage dealer.



Don't get me wrong, 2h BO is fun to play. Im currently in the process of collecting the BiS 2hander gear for my BO. There's some decent regen gear (warlord chest and boots, offsov shoulders) that combined with fleshrender jewels and pocket item helps make up for lack of survivability. You can get your parry levels very high too, so between regen, parry and armour, you can ditch toughness in order to get high damage.

But even with all that, 2h BO is gonna suck in warband play.

[Fey]

If you very much prefer 2-handed you're going to do better in Scenarios and small-man. However you still can't neglect your defense. You'll still put renown into parry and deft defender, you'll still run Rugged tactic, otherwise you're just going to fall over especially when guarding, and you're guarding someone all the time.

Even with Bloodlord your damage isn't great, but you can certainly have fun with it.

[Rixyl]

Damn, well thanks guys. Maybe I just play it when my buddy is on because I doubt we'll be playing much together.

[rady]

Let me say this - when I rolled BO it was in a great spot. We had great skill You Wot?! that would increase defenses in 2h build. We had CD reducer...

So if you enjoy playing BO then go for it. You don't know if the class you pick instead won't get nerfed in the future.

[geezereur]

Let me say this - when I rolled BO it was in a great spot. We had great skill You Wot?! that would increase defenses in 2h build. We had CD reducer...

So if you enjoy playing BO then go for it. You don't know if the class you pick instead won't get nerfed in the future.

So sad we lost that skill You Wot?!.........

[Gorgash]

Used to be able to have offensive capability, until T'ree Hit Combo was removed for no good reason.

[Dackjanielz]

OK, if you want to do path of da brawler 2h you have a decision to make, if you are going DPS then so be it, you can maximize your dmg through various tactics and stats and you will become a DPS class - however you will never be as good as a real dps class and you will suck as a tank.

If however you wish to remain a tank, then you must think defensively.

damage is not remotely your priority you should go full wounds/toughness/parry etc
In the path of the brawler you should utilize your tools instead - use get out fer gud and dat was great along with rugged and im da biggest - you're goal from here on is to debuff and punt the jeebus out of everyone while sapping AP with Arm breakaz.

And on the side give em a good clobber with tree hit combos.

[Culexus]

OK, if you want to do path of da brawler 2h you have a decision to make, if you are going DPS then so be it, you can maximize your dmg through various tactics and stats and you will become a DPS class - however you will never be as good as a real dps class and you will suck as a tank.

If however you wish to remain a tank, then you must think defensively.

damage is not remotely your priority you should go full wounds/toughness/parry etc
In the path of the brawler you should utilize your tools instead - use get out fer gud and dat was great along with rugged and im da biggest - you're goal from here on is to debuff and punt the jeebus out of everyone while sapping AP with Arm breakaz.

And on the side give em a good clobber with tree hit combos.

If you stack into defense as 2h you lose the only thing that 2h does better than SnB, damage.

2h gains over SnB:

Extra damage
Around 300ish extra armour debuff
Around 30ish extra stats from Da Biggest
-10sec cooldown on the punt
Access to Arm breaka

But 2h loses:

Much higher defense with Block/toughness. 2h BO is super squishy.
Morale pump
We'z Bigger+Linecraka
+5 sec cooldown debuff
-20% physical damage debuff
-20% magic damage taken group buff

All the best parts of our toolkit are tied to SnB. There's no reason to run 2h if you're not gonna go all in on the loldps imo, as you'd always be better going SnB otherwise. 2h is ok for solo, but for all other content, SnB is the better choice. Unfortunately, as 2h BO is not in a good spot right now BO doesn't have many build options.