Return of Reckoning

Since i been gone from game, i read they nerfed IB.
first my IB is 2handed, RR 75, gear at lvl, with very heavy defenses. so i have about 800 toughness and 850 str.(prebuffed) parry was like 50%+

I read the heavy blow damage out put was nerfed. Not sure why, because IB was never a heavy hitter. I'm sure a Rune priest can out damage me if speced for this. infect, i THINK IB was one of the lowest DPS classes in game. I get it, IB is meant to tank. BUT KOSB is A much better tank then the IB will ever be.

I test my new builds. and i get a 2k burst damage, and 1k damage over time killing a dummy. OK, i am not going to be killing anybody with heals. even a dps healer can out heal me now. but i can guard / assist a dps? that is my role.

I take my IB into rvr. use guard and i die in seconds. /repeat. still dead. I have a **** load into defenses. maxed disrupt, max parry, toughness goes to 900+ when buff is triggered. yet, i am killed if i guard somebody. so, i stop and look at combat data.

I don't parry! I did maxed parry, but i don't parry anymore. even my guard hits me. 500 - 1000 damage from guard! and i capped parry!

oh i have 24% parry now. ok, so parry has been nerfed. IB can no longer guard anybody. somebody told me parry is now a INIT based stat. GOOD for the WH and WE's, they have very high INIT. Im glad they are even more difficult to kill. Since i never been able to kill a WE. i am glad they are stronger in this new version.( yes i lied, nothing kills a WE but another WE)

so i tried S/B spec and im sorry NO damage at all.

Explain to me? what is the IB role in this game.

People in game will say that IB makes one mdps into a superman, but that's just hyperbole. 2h IB and BG were hit hard by the WS change.

You have a skill to heavily increase parry and ini for you and your oath friend plus a bunch of talisman slots and renown points.
Pro tip: investing renown in ini grants parry and anti crit at the same time so you basically don't need FS anymore.

I dont think anything works like it should, really. Everything is weird and or broken

fatelvis wrote: Sun Jan 18, 2026 5:18 pm Pro tip: investing renown in ini grants parry and anti crit at the same time so you basically don't need FS anymore.

This is bad advice. You can buy the benefits of Initiative for cheaper than it costs to buy the stat points.

34 spent gives you 120 Initiative. That's 6% crit reduction, 3.6% parry and 3.6% dodge.

You could instead spend 15 points to get 8% crit reduction via FS, 4 points to get 7% dodge AND disrupt, and 4 points for 7% parry. That's just 23 points total. It's not even close.

Go full sov, high futile strikes, hardy concession, max block and trust me you'll be the last to die in your warband.

Focus more on block than parry. You have oathbound (parry, ini buff) you should keep that up as much as possible. Use avalanche tactic as you heal from disrupt, so hold the line becomes pretty much your self heal.

I also run a solo build that is based around gilgams SnB build. Much more reliable than 2h but the solo scene is dead atm. I find myself fighting WE mostly which is boring now.

Still Solo IB is not only the hardest tank to play solo, it's also the weakest right now out of the tanks so don't be frustrated if you find yourself dying because of unbalance and skill.

Not sure about weakest. 2h bg is such mess atm that i even remotly dont know how to make him be usefull as support dps. IB still a very strong buff bot, ap pumper, and have a lot of crit from dif sources to play with, ws buff and arm penetration on channel too. I have no idea how to make high crit high ws and higth def on top to soak up guard dmg on bg at same time. Only uniq thing about him left is just megapunt and crit debuff. After ws rework speced him into snb, and dont know how to even start on 2h, looks like devs will let him rot, like 2h kotbs was, for few years.

IB is fun, I like the animations and general look of it, but if you want to tank with more utility for your party play KOTBS, it's even easier to play (maybe boring but more effective).
You can do fine job guarding and buffing of course, you can survive in defensive SnB spec, but yeah Kinght is the spoiled child atm
Only role of IB is probably roleplay.

tomolyons wrote: Mon Jan 19, 2026 12:14 pm Still Solo IB is not only the hardest tank to play solo, it's also the weakest right now out of the tanks so don't be frustrated if you find yourself dying because of unbalance and skill.

Solo offensive IB with snb is one of the best class to play solo.
Soloater is well known regen WE. Check this:
https://killboard.returnofreckoning.com/kill/60050198

You probably don't know this, but some guilds only play IB as their tanks.
After the changes, IB is very powerful and has received a great buff of 25% more AA damage for the party.
Of course, it is still the most difficult tank to play in the game due to its nature of giving many ST buffs.

You wrote that you have 50% parry as 2h.
I think you should aim for 75-80% after buffs.
All parry jewelry, parry soulstone, parry liniment, init talismans, equipment parts with a parry bonus (as much as possible).

Generally, except for 6v6, which doesn't exist, you can safely play snb.
Less damage (I don't know if it's that important with two or three dps in the party).
Huge survivability.
Huge utility.