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Following some of the other posts here for other classes, I thought I'd do one for SM, to show you that we can do more than spam WW and DT, I don't claim to have come up with any of these builds or that they are hard to come up with, but I have tried and enjoyed them all myself and hope you will too
If tactics or morales are blank, it means there are many good options and you should try to use the right tool at the right time.
Morales
Spoiler:
M1 - with Wings of Heaven nerf and DB moved to M3, WoH now needs to provide more value to justify using, while having a harder time doing so. Still good for solo and some occasions, but probably better going with DS or CHCH.
M2 - Generally take Raze, Shield Wall is also decent for SnB, Guard of Steel maybe in a toughness stacking party.
M3 - Almost always Distracting Bellow, soloing recommend Bladeshield
M4 - Always Immaculate Defense (except for 1 build)
Centuries of Training (CoT) - Trash tier - worse than PE, don't use.
Focused Offense (FO) - Niche + Mid Tier + Controversial - I'm one of the few who thinks this is good on SM at near-BIS DPS gear and run it frequently. Sometimes good for solo, ST and roam parties and PvE off-tank
Enscrolling Agony (EA) - Top Tier - Great ST DOT, will do 2x dmg of PE on ST if EB is used on every rotation.
Rugged - Mid Tier - 160 Toughness not bad
Bend The Winds - Niche + low-mid tier - Okay for solo vs Shaman and Magus
Discerning Offense (DO) - Mid Tier - Decent in many specs, though mostly SnB will have issues hitting, since 2H will mostly move behind target.
Menace - Niche + Low-Mid Tier - Since you can Main Tank PvE with 2H, you can keep aggro without this.
Isha's Protection (IP) - Top Tier - If it is a choice between this and Rugged, I'll take IP 90% of the time. If you had no other mitigation Rugged reduces dmg by 5-10%, but SM lives mostly on avoidance (block, parry, d/d) and absorbs so it's more like 2.5-5% reduced vs 10-20% more healed.
Unstoppable Juggernaut - niche + low tier - okay solo vs rSH and Sorc if you manage to change morale set in time.
Potent Enchantment (PE) - mid tier - can add a lot of fluff dmg
Poised Attack - thrash tier - worse version of DO. If SM still had double spirit debuff and block/parry was 300° instead of <60° maybe..
Lingering Intimidation (LI) - niche + top tier - very strong with WW and adding 12.5% dmg reduction to strong morale drain is great in ranked.
Impeccable Reactions (IR) - niche + mid tier - works very well high parry builds where there's not too many enemies.
Adapted Movements - niche + mid tier - good vs strong AP drain, if you don't have +12 AP/sec from gear.
Great Weapon Mastery (GWM) - S Tier - must have for most 2H builds.
Balance Accuracy (BA) - Top tier - not as good as GWM but still 2nd best for DPS.
Deep Incision - niche + mid tier - might be best DOT with high WS and Armor Pen.. With Warlord set maybe or 2x Armor debuff teams.
Raking Talons (RT) - S tier - 1st or 2nd reason to bring SnB SM to a WB. Only strong SM utility tactic that actually works at WB scale.
Vaul's Buffer (VB) - top tier - stronger the more avoidance you have.
Perfect Defense (PD) - top tier - strong for both 2H and SnB.
Blessing of Heaven - niche + mid tier - healmaster+++
Blinding Strike - thrash tier - worse than Poised Attack? Probably. Too low duration for an activated ST tactic, compare to Furious Howl or Pierce Defense.
Standard Specs SnB Standard WW+RT - 0-11-13
Right.. Just gonna post the sov+2 version, as all the abilities and Vaul tactics are great, meaning before 6p sov, it's up to your preference. Below Vanq/r70 you can drop RT for the defensive tactics and abilities.
Renown: block,parry, FS, disrupt/dodge,Hardy Concession
Talis: toughness, wounds, armor (personally I put a couple of str in for example Invader shoulder and Gloves to boost chance to hit a little bit, and so they can be used with offensive specs)
BIS Gear Recommendation: Full main sov, 2p genesis everlasting, 6% block in sent/triump ring, Sword: Sentry's Blade of Glory, Shield: Shieldbearer's Pavise of Reverence
2H Standard Build - 13-0-9
This build is for offensive 2H, GWM+BA is base, EA is best 3rd spot for ST otherwise PE or DO. Last spot is usually for defensive. It works in basically all aspects of the game.
ST Variants of this removes PW and/or Calming Winds to get 14-15 points in tree.
If you want to go full DPS mode ***NOT recommended in competitive content***
Highest DPS would be 5 vic, 4 off sov, with bloodlord 2h, 2p Warrior Genesis and 4th tactic=FO
renown (of course): 120 str, 14% melee crit, 3% parry
Talis: str
This will land you in the +1100 DPS region, not shabby for a tank.. and you still got WoDS when needed
Other Shield Master Specs
Spoiler:
Fluff Master - 0-11-13
One of my favourite SnB builds, normal city will see this with 300-500k dmg, 400-700k heal and +1M protection. Spam WoH to get PE+BoH procs, and of course use Phantom Blade. Spam PoH and RT (replace with VB if you want) to get protection. This could also be run in 2H to increase dmg and style without necessarily decreasing anything else.
SC/small scale SnB
RT can be dropped for CA and VB in roam when not in 6p sov, but wouldn't in ranked.
Offensive Punter SnB - 0-9-13
This build is pretty fun too, but it's very gear dependent:
Invader Ring+Shoulder+Gloves, sov off helm+body, sent ring+belt, warlord/victorious cloak+boots, Subjugator 1h or offensive SC 1h, with Bloodlord Shield, Rough Gunbad Diamond+3% Block Fragment.
Renown: Max block, 120 str or melee crit.
Talis: str
You can drop the Blinding Strike for DO.
This can also be used for ST city parties, if specced a little more defensively, since WW and punt which 2H is missing and they don't always want/need "full SM dmg" anyway.
If you are roaming (or another situation where punt is not needed, e.g. sc), you can try this instead: Offensive DOT SnB - 9-0-13
Switching block jewels to 2p Warrior Genesis.
PvE SnB - 0-9-13
Not much to be said, get block and parry and CtbC to 0%. yawn..
Other Two-Handed Sword Master Specs
Spoiler:
R70 WW+PW AoE 2H - 11-0-13
Go semi-tank, high parry, 700-900 str, spam WW, WoH and PW.
Rotation: SS>WoH>WW>PoH>PW>SS>PW>PoH>PW>SS>PW>BS>PoH>PW...
Lots of NB procs, good fun
Sov+2 ED+WW All-rounder - 13-0-13
This is a nice general spec with decent ST dmg and utility. CW can be traded for PW in big battles or BA if you don't need CW and could use more ST power. Tactics and M1 to suit.
2H WW+RT - 0-11-13
This is a tanky/utility 2H version of the standard SnB build, you give up punt or small AoE interrupt to gain style and guard dmg immunity (with WoDS in perfect stance). Decent trade I say.
Fort M4 AoE Punter R70 - 15-3-5
+110% Parry / +90% Disrupt / +70% Dodge with WoDS in Perfect Stance, super Mega M4 punt into Gusting Winds punt.
Very fun and impactful if pulled of right and before immunities, always spec this for forts and if I'm joining contested Keep siege
Preferred gear: Crimsonwind, 5p bloodlord (9% parry), 3p victorious (4% parry), 14% Parry from jewels.
Renown: Max Parry, Max Dodge Disrupt, Max Hardy Concessions.
Talis: Wounds (whatever)
Protocol: Avoid-Absorb/Parry Master - 11-7-5
Spec from above. Replace Calming Winds with Impeccable Reactions as situation calls for.
Best for solo / duo.
Avoidance check (parry, etc.) is done before absorb, meaning with very high avoidance the absorbs from PoH and VB will cover a much higher proportion of the dmg that does come through.
7p Warlord will allow you to grab ED with PoH, and give auto-detaunt if they by-pass your WoDS/Avoidances, also works with 6p sov off, R70 version with ED instead of PoH:
Protocol: R70 ED Avoid-Absorb/Parry Master - 13-12-0
Losing PoH is a bit bad, but more time to do damage I guess..
And since each point in middle adds roughly 15-20hp/sec from VB and PB, it's better, which is very strong for solo pve and pvp against mdps.
2H PvE MT/OT/Solo - 15-3-5
Run this for PvE, with 10k hp and +50-100% parry, with good gear and group you can solo all dungeons (yes, BS included if people know what they are doing).
This can also put out decent DPS. if you go GWM+BA+PE with either FO, PD or IP.
If you have some builds not listed here or any comments/questions, please post below
Last edited by BluIzLucky on Mon Jun 26, 2023 7:58 pm, edited 8 times in total.
SM - Arhalien +80 | AM - Shaheena +80
ZL - Wildera +70 | BG - Blackcrow +70
Good guide indeed. Verry helpfull and usefull for new SM players.
Question about Your last spec 2H PvE MT/OT/Solo - 15-3-5.
As far as I know tactics does not stack with each other with same effects(for all classes) so 5%parry from Great weapon mastery tactic does not stack with 5-10% parry from perfect defences tactic only higher vaue is applied. With 2h spec I would avoid PD tactic completely, because it only gives You 5% parry more over GWM. Better use rest of the mastery points elswere.
Good guide indeed. Verry helpfull and usefull for new SM players.
Question about Your last spec 2H PvE MT/OT/Solo - 15-3-5.
As far as I know tactics does not stack with each other with same effects(for all classes) so 5%parry from Great weapon mastery tactic does not stack with 5-10% parry from perfect defences tactic only higher vaue is applied. With 2h spec I would avoid PD tactic completely, because it only gives You 5% parry more over GWM. Better use rest of the mastery points elswere.
Unique tactics stack, gear procs + pots + abilities generally don't, meaning with GWM and PD channeling ED will get you 15% parry (Confirmed with .getstats), with Impeccable Reactions and EF you'll mostly just take ability / undefendable damage
all the dps gear you recommend would leave you with 15-16% chance to be crit and toughness around 380 ish.
too squishy?
Yeah +16% CtbC and 313 Toughness, 8% parry, 2.6k Armor with FO and BL 2H
The max DPS renown/gear mentioned is just for fun, if it's not your goal to get highest damage in SC then it's not a good build fo sure, will make an edit to make that more clear.. in case some newbie gets confused
On my preference is towards high avoidance over both CtbC and toughness, you might prefer to stack armor and toughness, which is why unless I think the gear/renown is part of the build, I've been vague about those.
Personally, respec a lot depending on the situation and run a lot of different sets mixes, my inventory is 1 bag of pots and 3 bags of gear.
Would recommend ClosetGoblin if you are like me with a lot of different sets, currently got 7 setups, if I had more Sov/War/ranked pieces could add a handful more
SM - Arhalien +80 | AM - Shaheena +80
ZL - Wildera +70 | BG - Blackcrow +70
Your gear is not hugely important compared to..
a) being a good tank - positioning, awareness, guard swaps, challenge, bellow, knockdowns, utility, not taking excessive dmg, etc. - if your healer die because you didn't guard swap, gear doesn't matter.
b) being a good assister - following MA closely and using skills as called for. - if you miss 2 hits because you aren't close to your MA, that could be +30% of your dmg gone.
As for gear, of course it also makes a big difference, but with any mix of lvl+50 gear you should be fine.
My stat priority is: parry, str, melee crit (of course with adequate wounds and CtbC).
Pure PvE:
5-6p Bloodlord + 3-2p Sent (ring, gloves, boots), Crimsonwind or Bloodlord 2H, rings: bloodlord, rough gunbad ruby, exquisite/rough GB amber.
High parry, high crit and str, ran this with Genesis rings and wounds/str talis.
Pvp: Oppressor/vanq + 2-4p invader (ring, gloves, body, helm), sc or fort 2h, 2p genesis warrior.
until Sov.
Mix: 3p bloodlord (cloak, shoulder, belt) + 2-3p sent (ring+gloves+boots) + 3-4 invader, 2H of choice, rings of choice (2p gen war for dps).
As you get sov/warlord/ranked pieces you can start substituting out other sets.
Hope that helps, I'm sure other SMs run it very differently and please let us know if you do
SM - Arhalien +80 | AM - Shaheena +80
ZL - Wildera +70 | BG - Blackcrow +70
