I introduce myself, Fayte of the Black Guard guild on the Mantle of the force server, where I have been present for 2 years now. I have already made guides for swtor.Games Managers several times, and I take this opportunity to make a final update before 3.0 which will arrive in 1 month.
Some will tell me that it is useless since there is 3.0 coming soon, but I think it is never too late and that it can still be useful for some to finish the current raids before the level increase. I also believe that the changes to the Assassin Tank will not be revolutionary, and therefore some parts of this guide can be reused.
I take this opportunity to thank in passing all the members of my guild, as well as all the Assassins Tank with whom I was able to have pleasant and constructive discussions on the various forums or on the game. Happy reading and see you at the 3.0!
Specializations
Before we begin, a few details about the talent tree:
- Electric Execution: It should be understood that this talent increases the regular damage of our posture by 18%, which does about 580 damage every 4.5 seconds, increasing it by 18% is useless (580-> 684 ... ), its damage is so low and anecdotal that there is no need to increase it!
- Punitive Blades: Our Correction serves us indirectly, it is not what is interesting but the procs it gives us, so increasing the damage of the Correction does not make sense.
- Torment: Reducing the cost in Force of the Shock / Correction can be interesting, only the value is so low that in the end we really do not feel the difference, it is only useful in the phases where we are not tanking, that is for us. allows us to continue our cycle without too many blank shots.
- Evasions: This talent is generally misunderstood, to be definitively clear, this talent increases your movement speed in combat by 15%, it may not seem like much, but in fact it is very useful and effective in PvE. than in PvP (no more excuses if you stay in an AoE). There are currently 3 possibilities on the Assassin's Dark (Tank) specialization with only 2/3 points to move, to take either 1 control (Point), mobility (+ 15% in combat) or comfort ( reduced Force consumption).
Then, there are 2 hybrid specializations Darkness / Deception, the first is to go and take the point which transforms the Black-Out (temporary stealth improvement) into a defensive CD, it will reduce the damage suffered by 25% for 5 seconds (you can do so). compared to a second Shroud of strength). The second hybrid spec goes even further in Deception to take the -30% damage on area effects.
Darkness specializations
37 / 5 / 4
This specialization allows you to continue your cycle even if you don't take damage. During switch bosses for example, it happens that one of the 2 tanks is useless, and if we take no damage, we have a not terrible Force regeneration, suddenly we find ourselves having to put white blows. With this spec, you will not have this problem to continue your cycle normally, I call it the "nothing to do" spec;).
37 / 7 / 2
Regularly in HM / Nightmare, there are switches to be made between the tanks, precise placements / movements to be respected / made. With this spec, you gain 15% speed when you are in combat, and it's very nice to switch, replace the boss, avoid a bump, a cleave, an AoE, get within range of taunt ... flee like a coward and vanish. In short, there are quite a few situations where this 15% speed can be useful to you.
38 / 6 / 2
I use this variant when I need / want extra control, I only put a point in speed instead of 2 (7.5% more speed in combat), and I take the Point off stealth . It can be used regularly not to mention enemy packs between bosses, useless on Palace, and very little on Fortress (the Healeur of Draxus Nm / Hm / Nightmare, and on Zero Corruptor only in Nm / Hm), but useful on the Most of Darvannis Nm / Hm / Nightmare Bosses: Slayer up, COO, Shadow Olok, and Styrak in Nightmare (add stun). Finally, I also use it on Operator 9 of Asation (on a demi-elite: Pointe -> Foudroiement -> il est mort = 1 taunt saved) and on the "Bombeur" of Kephess on Dénova.
Hybrid Specialization
32 / 12 / 2
The BlackOut Specialization consists of taking Dark Swell in the Deception tree, the Black Out then becomes a defensive CD with a duration of 5 seconds, it will reduce all damage suffered by 25% with a cooldown of 1 minute. Of course, suddenly we can use the Black Out without being in stealth, but in addition the vanish allows us to reset the cooldown of the Black Out and we also lose the debuff of zero heals received during a vanish.
All this allows us to have a really important resistance thanks to a defensive cycle to respect, very effective on the bosses who have an easy cycle to memorize with bursts and / or big attacks to take regularly. (basically all Dread Palace bosses basically).
Statistics and equipment
Let's start with the order of priority:
- Absorption
- Defense
- Bouclier
- Endurance
Why do I put the Shield last?
Quite simply thanks to our Dark Zone which offers us 20% (with the bonus of set 2 pieces), and also because it is not a statistic to be managed, since the shield does not compete with any other statistic of Tank , we put as much as possible without asking any questions.
Regarding Absorption / Defense, I'm a tank who doesn't like defense because it's double or nothing, either we take all the damage in the face or we take nothing, on a log fight actually we will be able to see that thanks to the defense one takes less damage in general, only this statistic is a trap for the Healers!
It is better to take regular small damage (absorption), than to take a big blow that will surprise your healers (defense).
Finally, when I need defense, I slam the deflection (+ 50% defense for 12sec).
The ideal is still to have 2 pieces of equipment, because depending on the type of damage done by the boss, the shield or the defense can be ineffective:
My stats, with 186 coins except Headphones, Relics, Grip, Chest / Legs / Boots Armor:
- Equipment Absorption
- Mixed equipment
- Defense Equipment
Upgrade: 9 Abso / 5 Shield
- Defense = 20%
- Shield = 41%
- Absorption = 50%
Improvement: 11 Abso / 2 Shield / 1 Defense
- Defense = 23%
- Shield = 39.5%
- Absorption = 49%
Improvement: 11 Abso / 3 Defense
- Defense = 28%
- Shield = 38.5%
- Absorption = 42%
Double Defense / Absorption Pieces: Torso, Gloves, Boots, Belt, Armband, 1 Implant.
Relics: Proc Abso, Proc Def, Activable Def
Dopants: Armor, Absorption
For the complete guide, with cycles, defensive CDs, Fortress and Dread Palace optimizations, and other tips, go directly to the Black Guard website:
Complete guide
Hope you find this guide helpful, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate!
