The best tank in the game? Herald vs Crusader

[Teclis23]

 

 

Unbroken+Trickster. Stack engagement slots and u can lock down as many enemies as can surround u. U will automatically put distracted on everyone, ur dmg will be good and ur defenses will be skyhigh. Anyone who tries to disengage will regret it. Trickster also bring Riposte :D

 

Refreshing defense also stack with mirrored image for some reason.

 

Unbroken + persistent distraction + hold the line + last word + reckless brig + medium shield gives u +6 engagement slots in mob stance and +9 in defender stance.

Last word gets +5% dmg per engaged target and reckless brig gives u +5% action speed per engaged target and mob stance gives u -5% recovery per engaged target. This combined with the rogues sneak attack means u get a great tank with also great dmg.

pally gets +20 bonus to deflection that is passive and stacks with everything. Goldpact pally get +4 AR on top of that that stacks with Unbroken AR +1 for a total off +5AR

 

So no your example is way off

 

Not even in the ballpark

 

And what is refreshing defense? You mean vigorous defense? No it deadfire doesnt stack with mirror image you have made a mistake

 

 

This is probably one of the most ignorant responses ive ever seen on this forum. I get 171 Deflection on that guy, that is pretty much the same u get from paladin with the same statspread and maxed deep fatih. Also worth noting is that anyone who are engaged by me also suffer from -5 perception and it doesnt cost me anything so thats +5 to all defenses as well. Now i am fully aware that a crusader is sturdier, because its a proper turtle build combination, while the swashbuckler bring a lot more dmg but keep similar enough defense. "not even in the ball park" only shows how clueless u really are.

 

Rogues 50% reflex graze to miss is nothing to sneeze at either.

 

They changed the rules in a new patch and deflection abilities can stack now apparently 

 

I didint no this as is wasnt in any patch notes

[anathanielh]

Best tank in the game is Ranger because they have a friend. With friends, anything is possible.

[Gromnir]

am thinking monk tanks deserve love, particular votary.  'tween blade turning, soul mirror and exalted healing, a votary is able to survive indefinite while foes kill themselves.  the stronger the enemy's melee attack, the more devastating is blade turning. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Boeroer]

That is true. It is very powerful. And the best thing is you can use any weapon you like without looking at damage values because your weapon isn't used for attacking at all. Add Unbroken and also punish enemies who want to leave the Blade Turning Party.

 

Nalpasca with Dance of Death usually generates wounds quickly enough that you can spam Blade Turning endlessly.

 

It plays a bit weird though because you can't do much besides casting Blade Turning since the duration got nerfed. With Turning Wheel you can expand it nicely, but still not enough to do anything else that requires a bit of action time and recovery.

 

AI can handle this totally fine. It's like you only have to steer 4 party members.

 

One of the nicest tanks I played is actually Unbroken/Trickster due to the reasons Dorftek explained (Multi-Engagement + Persistent Distraction and Riposte and so on). Also because Akola's Apex Ward gives you a second crush riposte on top of your normal one and the automatic Deathblows are just awesome. I used Mob Stance + Reckless Brigandine for this guy to stack some attack speed and to have Cleave on kill. Engagement can be gained via Hold tL, spear modal, shield, Unbroken itself, Reckless Brigandine and Persistent Distraction (=6 slots). It's a pretty awesome mix of defense + offense. At least one of the most enjoyable "tanks" I used so far.

Edited August 9, 2018 by Boeroer

[hilfazer]

It plays a bit weird though because you can't do much besides casting Blade Turning since the duration got nerfed.

 

Wait... those 3 seconds got nerfed? Or duration got nerfed TO 3s some time ago?

[Manveru123]

Herald is better and more future-proof because Crusader's defenses are tied to resources. A well-build Herald contributes to combat with both chants and damage, as he is perfectly capable to using Suicide Immolation and not getting splattered.

[Boeroer]

 

It plays a bit weird though because you can't do much besides casting Blade Turning since the duration got nerfed.

 

Wait... those 3 seconds got nerfed? Or duration got nerfed TO 3s some time ago?

 

The latter.

[arkane83]

Herald is better and more future-proof because Crusader's defenses are tied to resources. A well-build Herald contributes to combat with both chants and damage, as he is perfectly capable to using Suicide Immolation and not getting splattered.

 

The hidden strength in herald is when heavy armor is slowing down your action speed your chants don't give flying f***. Your aoe hots and aoe damage chants keep ticking at the same rate regardless of how insanely slow your armor makes you. 

[Kaylon]

In a party temporary buffs last long enough and are very effective - so paladin/trickster, paladin/fighter, paladin/wizard, etc. make all good tanks.

For solo however, where fights can outlast easily all your buffs, the best tank is the paladin/chanter because of the strong infinite health regeneration among other perks.

The paladin/nalpazca can be a very effective tank at high levels, but struggles the first half of the game.

[Verde]

Trickster Swashbuckler

[gkathellar]

In a party temporary buffs last long enough and are very effective - so paladin/trickster, paladin/fighter, paladin/wizard, etc. make all good tanks.

For solo however, where fights can outlast easily all your buffs, the best tank is the paladin/chanter because of the strong infinite health regeneration among other perks.

The paladin/nalpazca can be a very effective tank at high levels, but struggles the first half of the game.

 

This is a good point!

[Metaturtle]

Also because Akola's Apex Ward gives you a second crush riposte on top of your normal one.

How does one get Akola's Apex ward normally ingame?

[Tommy1984]

My current herald playthrough in one screen:

Most of the time you are invicible - but watch out for packs of accurate enemies with raw damage dots or afflictions with reduced healing ... sometimes your health can drop really fast.

[thundercleese]

One of the nicest tanks I played is actually Unbroken/Trickster due to the reasons Dorftek explained (Multi-Engagement + Persistent Distraction and Riposte and so on). Also because Akola's Apex Ward gives you a second crush riposte on top of your normal one and the automatic Deathblows are just awesome. I used Mob Stance + Reckless Brigandine for this guy to stack some attack speed and to have Cleave on kill. Engagement can be gained via Hold tL, spear modal, shield, Unbroken itself, Reckless Brigandine and Persistent Distraction (=6 slots). It's a pretty awesome mix of defense + offense. At least one of the most enjoyable "tanks" I used so far.

The new soulbound shield also has a (frost) retaliate on miss proc. Though I think you need to have large shield modal active for it to work?

[Theosupus]

 

Also because Akola's Apex Ward gives you a second crush riposte on top of your normal one.

How does one get Akola's Apex ward normally ingame?

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/98889-unique-items-–-how-and-where-to-find-them/?p=2067490

[Boeroer]

Yes - you have to pee off the Huana. They will send a ship after your junk, you hit it with one barrage of your five double bronzers, you get the shield.

 

Junk and double bronzers are not mandatory though.

[Manveru123]

 

Nalpasca with Dance of Death usually generates wounds quickly enough that you can spam Blade Turning endlessly.

 

It plays a bit weird though because you can't do much besides casting Blade Turning since the duration got nerfed. With Turning Wheel you can expand it nicely, but still not enough to do anything else that requires a bit of action time and recovery.

Hmm not even slap a full attack between the Blade Turnings? Like, would a Votary be able to alternate between Blade Turning and FoD while dual-wielding? Because if not, then don't you think Shattered Pillar would offer better wound generation than the Nalzpaca? Since all you can do is quickly auto-attack.

[thundercleese]

If you don't have time for a full attack you're hardly going to have time for auto-attacks. It has a base duration of 3 seconds, a recovery period and a cast time. So with 10 int if you auto-attacked once you would have down time. With +10 int from Duality you could probably get an attack off between them, depending on DW, dex, etc.

[gkathellar]

 

Nalpasca with Dance of Death usually generates wounds quickly enough that you can spam Blade Turning endlessly.

 

It plays a bit weird though because you can't do much besides casting Blade Turning since the duration got nerfed. With Turning Wheel you can expand it nicely, but still not enough to do anything else that requires a bit of action time and recovery.

Hmm not even slap a full attack between the Blade Turnings? Like, would a Votary be able to alternate between Blade Turning and FoD while dual-wielding? Because if not, then don't you think Shattered Pillar would offer better wound generation than the Nalzpaca? Since all you can do is quickly auto-attack.

 

No. One automatic wound every 3 seconds, plus 5 additional points of Int via duality of mortal presence, plus more Turning Wheel damage, is much better than one wound every 30/25 damage dealt with basic attacks. And if you're using Tuotilo's Palm, which you should be, the difference is even bigger.

[Boeroer]

By the way: Blade Turning will not generate wounds with Shattered Pillar. Those damage is not considered yours. But that's info from beta - so who knows...

 

You can hardly get an attack off (be it auto-attack or ability attack - where's the difference in speed?) if you want to turn blades without downtime.

 

Nalpasca with Dance of Death generates 1.5 wounds every 3 secs (1 every 3 with Dance and 1 every 6 sec with drug). If you multiclass with Berserker or Wizard you can add a lot of wounds via self damage. But usually the drug/dance combo is good enough to keep on blade Turning - whith an occasional hit every now and then from ranged weapons and spells.

 

Riposte/Tuotilo's Palm crush riposte will not trigger because you won't have incoming attack rolls - those are all reflected and don't do an attack resolution against you but against the enemy.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Boeroer

[pstone]

My devouted/trickster crithunter is pretty tanky:

* 22 Swashbuckler

* 57 level

* 10 resolve

* 20 Refreshing Defense

*   4 Tuotilos

*   8 Legendard (Tuotilos)

*   7 Cloak

*   6 Weapon+Shield Style

*   4 Superior Deflection

* 30 deflection from Mirrored Image

---

168

 

Could be pushed to more with rest and escort bonus, items etc, but the main focus was high crits. Also persistent distraction could be considered another +5 bonus (debuffs engaged enemies perception). Double chance for riposte (rogue+shield), high base penetration and better crits for weapon and shield from devoted (interestingly, devoted is proficient in hand to hand from monastic training AND weapon of choice). Natural crits are only about 1/5 due to low accuracy (124/128 without buffs) but due to several sources of hit to crit (orlan, ring, hat, feats), and auto flanked condition the actual crit rate is a lot better. Also high penetration + crit -> overpenetration, and crits are quite good (+95% due to feats, items, devoted).

[Theosupus]

I'll join in on the unbroken/trickster train. I couldn't build a better tank.

Keep in mind  "the best tank" for me doesn't just mean it's a toon that can live longer than another; it means it protects the back line better than others.

 

I can get so many engagements loaded up on the Swashbuckler that all debuff the mass of mobs, and if any decide to break engagement they are basically dead at that moment with all the bonuses in that disengaging knockdown deathblow.  

[Stridsfordon90]

Best tank is kinda moot by definition.

I guess, one that can take most damage without dying?

 

This is my third last play-through on solo potd 2.0 where you cant recruit, flee from combat.

 

In solo mode I found str to be quite useless. 

 

It dosn't really matter from my experience what class you run since all classes can wear all armor.

Especially with the abraham pet where the heavy armor penalty is reduced alot. 

This guy just don't die.

 

This example is a herald with 21-23 resolve, 20 con, 18 int and 8str, 8dex, 8 perception ( with items, there is no beraths blessings avaliable)

Items like ring of solitary wonderer is acheivable by just buying some perception items, maybe buy a drug or sleep with the old hag in dunnage.

 

Fight starts with queue actions (brand enemy on everything, chant: come come, swift of death (raw damage ingores armor) does same damge vs lv1 enemy as lv 25 enemy).

 

Character just stands there and let summons grind the rest. Most enemies just die from brand enemy+chant aura (ticks for about 7 damage per second when speeded up).

 

With Scadu Scalth shield (From old city) you get deflection from athletics and % damage reduction from metaphysics. So he kinda gets into an iron turtle.

 

 

Edited August 10, 2018 by Stridsfordon90

[thundercleese]

All DoTs ignore armour, so providing they aren't immune you could be better off using the Dragon Thrashed.

[Boeroer]

Is there an enemy who is immune to burn AND slash damage?

Edited August 10, 2018 by Boeroer