Guardian Tanking Reference

by Ciderhelm @ US forum

Feats
Here is the most effective and efficient feat distribution for primary tanks:
http://www.conanarmory.com/feat.aspx...e2fe4fe2f2e4fe

Feel free to ask questions about the feats in this thread or on TankSpot. I have tested every feat extensively and can give concise answers.

Hate Generation
Measurement of Hate
1 Damage is equal to 1 Hate.

The reason for this is that 1 Damage will, under most circumstances, produce 1 Hate before modifiers are factored. This includes reactive damage, bleed damage, and normal weapon damage. This does not appear to include some damage procs, such as Guard Destroyer's bonus damage.

Damage to Hate is straightforward; if you are dealing less damage as a result of hitting the shielded side of an enemy, you are dealing less Hate. Be aware of this, and choose your abilities based off unguarded or lightly guarded areas of your target.

All Hate bonuses are additive. For instance, if you have Hateful Strikes active (20%), Defensive Stance (15%), and Provoke Maneuver (10%), you will produce 145% Hate from damage and abilities. +Hate bonuses on gear and from buffs stack on top of this.

Since attacks in no stance and in Defensive Stance both produce Innate Hate, the Hate-to-Damage tradeoff going to Defensive Stance or Provoke Maneuver always nets you more Hate rather than equal or less.

Innate Hate
While Damage is almost always Hate, Hate is not always Damage. There are hidden values on many attacks that create additional Hate.

In Age of Conan, the values appear to be a combination of a static value for the ability and a slightly scaling value for the overall damage dealt during the execution of a combo (including normal attack damage). For example, the final ability on Strike and Guard will always produce about 394 Hate; however, there is some additional Hate built from the previous attack in the combo that causes the overall Hate to commonly be around 425. The overall Innate Hate becomes slightly better if you deal more damage.

Innate Hate never accumulates while in Frenzy stance. For this reason, it is virtually never a good idea to switch to Frenzy stance to finish a combo if you're tanking.

Innate Hate Values

The following represents parsed data. These are approximate values that should be accurate to the Innate Hate of the ability alone; it does not represent the Hate from damage (which will cause some abilities such as Strike and Guard, Overreach, and Counterstrike to be substantially better).

Code:

Code:

Ability Sec Att Hate Loc Strike and Guard 3.0 3/1 394 LL Overreach IV 5.5 8/4 1000 UL Dulling Blow IV 5.0 6/2 775 UR Counterstrike IV 5.0 7/3 870 M Counterstrike III 3.5 5/2 615 M Guard Destroyer III 5.0 7/3 780 UL Plexus Strike III 5.0 6/2 600 UR Enraging Strike III 2.5 5/3 100 UL Brutal Enraging Strike III 2.5 5/3 95 UR Shield Sweep IV 2.0 3/3 30 M

The Hate values should be accurate to within 30 Hate; however, bear in mind these values may change or may be inaccurate due to the dynamic rules of AoC Hate.

The number of attacks is divided two ways for future reference. The first number is the total number of attacks. The second number is the number of attacks specifically labeled as the ability. This will be useful if abilities themselves cannot trigger certain procs.

So, what does it mean?

The above Hate chart helps with the recommended priority of your attacks. If damage shields were not an issue and maximum damage could be created from each attack, the ideal order of attacks would be Strike and Guard, Dulling Blow, Overreach, Counterstrike. However, always choose the best attack for a side that is unshielded or lightly shielded -- don't use any ability on a side that has 2-3 shields if you can avoid it.

It's generally always a good idea to open with a crossbow pull to the right or middle, then a Strike and Guard once the target(s) are in range. Strike and Guard has a 5 second stun attached.

The 100/110+ Rule

On most single-pull mobs, a player who gains 110% or more Hate of the player that currently holds Aggro on the target will cause the target to actively target him or her instead. Under no normal circumstance can a player pull Aggro with less than 110% accumulated Hate.

However, the threshold appears to vary depending on mob type and whether the mob is social or not. At this time, we've observed mobs with 110% (most common), 114%, and 120%. There may be many other values along this spectrum. What we do know is that a mob's threshold is hard-coded (i.e. if you pull the same mob twice, even if it's been killed and has respawned, it will have the same threshold).

The threshold remains true from any range and over any period of time. More specifically, a player who uses ranged damage will still pull at the threshold. We have observed situations where a mob will voluntarily move back to it's previous target if a melee target runs out of range quickly.

Healing

From initial testing, ineffective healing (i.e. healing someone with full health) did not appear to produce any Hate. Also, Natural Regeneration bonuses did not appear to produce any Hate.

The exact Healing to Hate conversion has not been determined.

Pulling (Crossbow vs. Charge vs. Body Pull)

From initial testing, Crossbow pulling appeared to build equal Hate on multiple targets in a given pull. The Hate was equal to Damage. This makes the Crossbow significantly better than alternative methods of pulling.

Charges appeared to only produce Hate after the related attack occurred. This produced awkward positioning on some targets if a HOT was running at the time of the Charge, in some cases complete misses. Secondary targets did not appear to have any additional Hate built as a result of charging the target, and would head immediately to a healer with a HOT running.

Body pulling appeared to produce zero Hate.

Feated Abilities
Certain abilities such as Dulling Blow, Counterstrike, and Overreach, gained zero Innate Hate as a result of being fully invested with the appropriate feats. However, the additional damage and related debuffs made these worthwhile investments.

Handling Damage

Drive Them Back is ridiculously effective at reducing damage intake for 10 seconds. Following it up with a Shield Sweep is even better. Yes, knockbacks can make some pulls rough to coordinate, but if you're in a position where your damage intake is important, there's no reason not to use it.
Double-tap abilities (forward, sideways, backwards) are primary damage reduction abilities. These abilities almost always outperform Active Blocking. Be warned that stuns don't interrupt most boss casters.
Bleed damage eats through Last Stand. If you're fighting bosses that can apply bleeds and periodic damage, Last Stand can be more likely to kill you than save you.

Maneuvers, Strategems, Tactics

These are relatively straightforward, but don't forget to have them applied at all times. Use the Enduring Defense Maneuver any time you don't have to worry about Hate. Use Provoke Maneuver on trash that you're very comfortable with. Use Bolster the Line Strategem for most boss tanking, with the exception of Necromancer bosses that fear. Use Wall of Steel Tactic just about any time Stamina is not an issue and you are tanking at least one physical damage dealer. Use Mental Barrier instead if you are ever in a place where you are taking dangerous Magic damage -- or, just about any time more than half of the mobs you've pulled are casters.

Groups

When clearing zones that benefit from two tanks, consider a Conqueror. Conqueror Stamina Regeneration bonuses have a large impact on the efficiency of Guardian tanking, and make speed pulling considerably more effective. It also allows for Wall of Steel to be constantly active.

When choosing healers for a party, avoid inviting two healers of the same class.