Post#20 » Wed Jul 22, 2020 1:09 am
While I'd be okay with having something like monstrous rending, ultimately it really wouldn't change anything and is not needed. My reaction would be very similar to the M1 changes (rock clutch) from a few weeks ago. Yeah it is cool and a little more useful, but it doesn't fix the root cause. IBs suffer from a couple of problems (BGs can relate in some aspects), they are in no specific order:
1. IBs in their current state require more skill to play effectively than any other tank in the game while providing less utility
2. Knights are very very strong (as are Chosen).
3. All of our buffs/debuffs are single target. I think it goes without saying that aoe is king in RvR and city (endgame content).
4. IBs single target buffs/debuffs are weak, and many of them overlap with other classes who have better versions. IBs have a lot of tools (many of which are very situational) but they don't excel at anything.
5. IBs are pretty shitty rdps guards.
Overview of IB buffs/debuffs:
The best IBs have:
- Oathbound: (25% parry + init) is the best IB has to offer when it comes to buffs. It has a short duration, you aren't going to have it up on more than two others at a time and needs to be re-applied often.
- Ancestor's Fury: (10% crit buff + str) is most useful for mdps but can be used on rdps and healers. Str buff unfortunately overlaps with inspiring attack and suffers the same duration problems as Oathbound.
The good:
- Stonebreaker: (armor debuff) not as strong as WL/Marauder debuff, but is on a shorter cooldown and has a longer duration.
- Punishing Knock: (50% OHD) stronger reduction than Knight's 25% OHD aura, and longer duration than WH's aoe 50% OHD. BGs is quite a bit better as it is spammable and tied to a stackable willpower debuff
- Inspiring Attack: (str + wp buff) is a free strength buff and a willpower buff based on grudges (same as BGs Brutal Smash). Willpower is useful in the rare event you run self heal, or if you happen to have time and are in range to throw oathfriend on healer (goes back to the difficulty of playing IB).
The meh:
- Runic Shield: (magic bubble) is a bit stronger than Protection of the Hoeth (group bubble), but is single target.
- Vengeful Strike: (toughness buff) which is nearly the same as BGs Feeding on Weakness, however the BG ability provides additional benefits to their dark protector. Knight's toughness aura (Stand Strong!) has the same base stat improvement as Vengeful Strike (which is single target), is passive, and double the range lol. If a Knight runs this aura it will always be better
- Watch An' Learn: (self WS buff + AP buff for oathfriend) The WS buff is okay as all IB damage is physical and requires a significant investment in WS to do decent damage. WaL is probably the best burst AP buff in the game, but is on a long cooldown and is situational. Given proper group comp (Knight with To Glory! and WP/RP AP buff) + AP pots, its usefulness takes a hit.
- Told Ya So! (tactic): (group AP buff) Gives group members 25AP and procs off critical hit up to once every 3 seconds. More suitable for a 2h build as the higher the crit the better, however, it is probably better to have a WP or RP run their AP buff.
- Oath of Vengeance (tactic): (ally toughness buff) Effects of Vengeful Strike apply to all allies within 20 feet of your oathfriend. I think if the range was a little greater on this it could qualify for the good tier, but like with many IB abilities it is tough to use for a couple of reasons. You need to be within 50ft of your oathfriend (given), you need to hit something, and your oathfriend needs to be within 20ft of a cluster of players (otherwise it requires switching oathfriend to someone else before applying buff).
The bad:
- Guarded Attack: (armor buff) is generally a waste of a GCD as armor pots will provide roughly the same armor increase. Armor pots did not exist on live.
- Stubborn as Stone: (corp buff + AA haste) is more of a self buff as only the corp buff is shared with oathfriend (also same baseline as Knights resists aura). It can be paired well with Watch An' Learn (AP buff) but it is situational as it requires getting hit by magic damage.
- Kneecapper: (20% crit hit reduction debuff) is the same as BG's Crush the Weak. People on the forums often rave about this debuff being OP, until they realize that it is not a flat critical hit rate reduction. It is multiplicative and if not for it being used to hide better debuffs it would be a waste of a GCD.
The so bad, why does it even exist:
- Avenging the Debt: You have to somehow manage to get the killing blow with this skill as a TANK in order to heal yourself and your oathfriend for next to nothing lol.
My personal opinion is that IBs will continue to occupy the bottom of the tank totem pole until they are given group utility in the form of an aoe buff, debuff, or cc that can't be brought by another class. They are the only tank in the game that does not have a single aoe buff/debuff ability. Every other tank has multiple aoe buffs and/or debuffs that come as default or can be specced into. Couple that with the fact that IBs/BGs middle tree is a remnant from a game that required pve as part of its endgame, it is not surprising that the BG and IB sit at the 5th and 6th spots respectively on the tank totem pole.
Zakgrin - rr8x Ironbreaker
Knights of Order
Ironbreaker Guide - Suggestions and Feedback always welcome!
