Shield dok viable?

[panda55]

Hi there,
I am new to RoR and tried out a few classes. The meele healing shield dok is so far my favorite gameplay wise, but it does feel very weak. (I am just level 16) The healing from consume essence does not feel like it has a lot of impact and the soul rent heal is nice but it takes a lot of spells to build up the soul essence for it. When I play scenarios I usually end up with a roughly 50/50 split between dmg and heal, is this normal or am I misplaying heavily here? While fun to play I feel like a liability to the team since black orcs with their warcry heal roughly the same while also providing protection.
Finally, I would like to get some guidance on what stats to look out for. Obv. Strength is important, but do I focus more on toughness or wounds and is initiative and weaponskill something important or just an afterthought?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out here.

[Lion1986]

Until top level gear is undoubtedly underperformed since you need to make good damage to have lifetap heals kicking in. Is it fun? Yes. Competitive? No.

[java]

At lvl 16 you are lacking the majority of your spells and tactics that make the spec strong. You need lvl 25 or so to get the basic tools.

The statement above really doesn't provide any insight. Shield dok is great while leveling to 40 in scenario's. And it continues to perform once you get the post 40 pve sets. The main focus of the spec is scenarios's, ranked 6vs6, and easily the best healer for any pve content.

Where it lacks is in rvr WB play. Main reason is that you do not have the survivability without guard and you lack ideal targets to hit and get your healing done.

So tldr, amazing spec that is competitive in all content except RvR large scale.

[panda55]

Thanks for the reply, I will level with cup then for a while!

[shoelessHN]

Until you get transfer essence it's not worth playing and is subpar healing vs just using a chalice.

[Zxul]

So tldr, amazing spec that is competitive in all content except RvR large scale.

Doesn't works in small scale, where snb dok is very kitable. If you can't hit anything, you can't heal. Same vs high mitigation/ parry opponents. Realistically, in pvp only works in scs. And even there, won't work if the opposite side say puts a tank to sit on the dok and permasnare it.

[TrainInVain]

What I recommend to anyone wanting play a class with masteries that are sub-optimal group/warband play is make your your triumphant armor ward the WB/group friendly spec. Then your best in slot sovereign/endgame gear the spec you really enjoy. Or invert that. Triumphant will still be very strong for healing. Eventually you can get multiple BiS for multiple sets of armor.

This has guides for all 3 DoK buildes. Maybe some minor changes since video was made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKpB9Ii7hLI

[java]

So tldr, amazing spec that is competitive in all content except RvR large scale.

Doesn't works in small scale, where snb dok is very kitable. If you can't hit anything, you can't heal. Same vs high mitigation/ parry opponents. Realistically, in pvp only works in scs. And even there, won't work if the opposite side say puts a tank to sit on the dok and permasnare it.

What kind of example is this lol? I'll grant you if you have a melee only group while fighting a 6man of archmages and sw's you may struggle, but this hardly occurs all the time. And if you play with right classes in your group you can easily catch on to the kill target.

The reality is that in random SC there is hardly enough coordination to have a tank perma sit on you. And even if so what other class is still that effective when they have the enemy tank baby sit them? And in a ranked 6 vs 6 how would this even be a good trade? Enemy tank who doesnt do anything other than slowing you. while you still put (reduced) healing out?

Now if you are talking about a very coordinated setting like ranked, then explain to me why DW DoK and Shield DoK are such popular choices?

As long as there is one melee dps attacking your group member you can always get your healing output going, simply by having the friendly kill target walk close to you.

So like I said earlier shield dok is very strong in most (not all) situations outside of large scale RvR.

[Lion1986]

shield dok in 6v6 and smallscale is solid proven that:
1)you got guard (so another will lack it)
2)you reach your enemies (undoable in rvr mas aoe zerg)
3)in scenario you meet people lacking a brain (no healdebuff to hinder another healer helping you or cc spam that gives free unneeded immunity)
4)you must have a good amount of str. most your heals are tap heals and thus requires big damage to have full potential (so requires your brain to work. do not hit enemy tanks)

[Zxul]

So tldr, amazing spec that is competitive in all content except RvR large scale.

Doesn't works in small scale, where snb dok is very kitable. If you can't hit anything, you can't heal. Same vs high mitigation/ parry opponents. Realistically, in pvp only works in scs. And even there, won't work if the opposite side say puts a tank to sit on the dok and permasnare it.

What kind of example is this lol? I'll grant you if you have a melee only group while fighting a 6man of archmages and sw's you may struggle, but this hardly occurs all the time. And if you play with right classes in your group you can easily catch on to the kill target.

The reality is that in random SC there is hardly enough coordination to have a tank perma sit on you. And even if so what other class is still that effective when they have the enemy tank baby sit them? And in a ranked 6 vs 6 how would this even be a good trade? Enemy tank who doesnt do anything other than slowing you. while you still put (reduced) healing out?

Now if you are talking about a very coordinated setting like ranked, then explain to me why DW DoK and Shield DoK are such popular choices?

As long as there is one melee dps attacking your group member you can always get your healing output going, simply by having the friendly kill target walk close to you.

So like I said earlier shield dok is very strong in most (not all) situations outside of large scale RvR.

So, which part of "Realistically, in pvp only works in scs"- which you actually quoted- did you miss, while writing the long essay about how dok works in scs?

As for, specifically, tank permasnaring dok, if its a "random sc", so you are fighting pug as a premade. Gz, whatever you do you will likely win, since devs nerfed objectives and guards into oblivion. If its a premade vs premade, and the only thing which you can hit as a snb dok is a high parry tank, your party realistically has 1 healer. From there, gl winning, especially if the other side something like 3 ranged, or 2 wh which pop up on target out of your melee range.