AionSource.com - Templar

I heard Magic Smash cannot crit...is this true?

68strat — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:10:42 GMT

If so, why is this?

Terrible Howl vs Break Power

ZombieInfection — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:10:51 GMT

I was planning on my stigma build for level 50 and so far I have this:

However, I'm not sure what Terrible Howl actually does both in a PvE and in a PvP environment. Could someone please post a video of your Templar using it in both a PvE context and a PvP context? I might be replacing it with Break Power if I don't find it that useful.

Also, how easy is it to pull of Break Power? I know it procs on knockdowns, but does it happen often enough to keep it on cd?

I know Terrible Howl breaks basic stealth for assassins and rangers by the way. I also know it fears. I just want to see it in action so I can come to a conclusion. Thanks!

P.S. If you have other suggestions for my stigma build, feel free to let me know.

Templar's job in mass PvP ... ?

Doriath — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:19:14 GMT

well i did the exacte same post on assassin forum cause actually i'm wondering one which class to stay ... being low level becom boring after some re-roll :P :

well, i'm the type of people who never know what class to choose ...

tried Sorc to 14 -> too much on my server and quite boring ...
tried Ranger to 22 -> well it's not that bad but being a bunny isn't my favorite playstyle -_-' ... also heard ranger end game aren't that good ...
tried Templar to 17 -> funny to take each and every strike and stay still, but i do love DPS too much ... xD (even if i heard Templar end game aren't so bad ... )

and now i'm wondering 1 thing about my templar, how is the Templar in mass PvP ? (fortress, 6v6... ) i can't really imagine their role, exept grabbing 1 or so ppl to let dps class destroy them before aiming to another target ? maybe aiming to ranger / sin / sorc / SM with their "not so bad" damage ?

well, your Point of View ? and, if possible reality of the job :)

it's all about end-game ofc :) (level and stuff :P ) ... can't choose :angry:

AP/HP > Crit?

Bigby Wolf — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:29:10 GMT

So I've heard crit scaling is shite before lvl 35, so should I be using AP and HP stones? I have decent armor for my level so I tank things about 8 lvls higher than me and grind with a friend. What do you think? Also Im guessing sword>mace until I have skills that are Magic boost dependant?

=BigbyWolf=

Which Templar books are drops?

Igniferroque — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:13:56 GMT

I know Prayer of Freedom I is a rare drop. Which of the others are?

Leveling a Templar

alukhard — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:57:37 GMT

Ill be short. Take a mace and enchant it to +5/+9 and start to kill everithing you see on your way while traveling from one quest spot to another. This works GREAT. An enchanted mace pulls out some incredible damage and actually im grinding faster than my friend who have a sorc. Yes he can kill things 4-5 secs faster then me but i have 0 downtime. Lvl 16 atm and have a +9 tropical mace. I went to the Dukaki area and even with 2 4-stars mobs on me i still had 65% hp at the end (regular steel equip). Ofc you can say this is going to be expansive...well except the first 10k kinah i have spent for the first lvl4 mace and +3 enchantment i didn't have any kinah problem for the next 2 maces (lvl9 at +8 and lvl14 tropical mace at +9). If you just keep killing everithing on your way (in 6-7 sec) you will be fine and with a load of money from loot. Just remember...every +ench level =+3 damage *10=+30 more damage per strike (And thats VERY good at least at low lvls)

Templar LiveStream

Vadriella — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:42:38 GMT

48 Templar here, with a live stream active most times.

Feel free to drop by. ^.^

www.livestream.com/aiontemplargameplay

Doing Steel Rake Right now.

Templar forum not found?!

Query — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:44:02 GMT

At the bottom I'm normally able to just hit the GO button to go back to the templar area to find other threads.. But now the templar thread list is no longer in that little section. Scrolled through it 7 times, couldn't see it.. Only saw "Class Discussion"

Whahappen?

Shield Block Changed?

Bluti — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:27:45 GMT

Well, maybe I am wrong, but for me it feels like the shield block mode you enter after a successful block has been changed after the last patch... to me it feels like it doesn't last as long as it was lasting before..
Maybe I am mistaken :P
Anyone else noticed such a change ?

Parry vs. Block - Final Answer is!!

Uglee — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:28:11 GMT

Neither??

Whats up guys after reading about the debate over which manastones to stack in ur Gear, I decide to do a little test to see what manastones actually help out. Now there man be some flaws with my test but really I just did this for my own personal curiousity. Now with this "test" I focused mainly on how much damage I take or i guess "damage mitigation." So i didnt take into account the ability to use all ur shield skills and stuff.
My character is lvl 20 Elyos with stats as follows (baseline with all my manastone slots EMPTY):
Phy. Def. - 705
Evasion - 537
Block - 809
Parry - 770

Now what I did was record how much damage I took from a Lvl 18 Spirit Tempest over 100 hits with using no skills that might effect my defense or the mobs attack. Now obviously a larger pool of information would have given me a more accurate test, but it took about 10-12 mobs for me to get enough 'hits' so I thought it might be worth a try to see what happens. But enough delay, heres what I came up with! Let me know what you think!

BASELINE (NO MANASTONES SOCKETED)
Number of hits out of 100
-Regular attack - 56
-Parried - 21
-Blocked - 23
Average Damage
-Total - 109.4
-Reg. Attacks - 135.1
-Parries - 76.3
-Blocks- 76.8
Notes: I noticed I would block enough to be able to use my shield skills almost any time I needed them.

BLOCK MANASTONES SOCKETED (used 12 +16 Block manastones in my gear and weapons)
Number of hits out of 100
-Regular attack - 47
-Parried - 21
-Blocked - 32
Average Damage
-Total - 103.6
-Reg. Attacks - 131.3
-Parries - 79.5
-Blocks - 78.7
Notes: Since it took killing about 10 mobs to gain all my data, there is only about an extra +1 block/mob. But same amount of parries. Also I thought it kinda of strange that the avg. TOTAL damage was lower, but the avg. damage. for parries and blocks were actually higher than baseline. But could be for a lot of reasons I guess.

PARRY MANASTONES SOCKETED (used 12 +16 Parry Manastones in my gear and weapons)
Number of hits out of 100
-Regular attack - 43
-Parried - 32
-Blocked - 25
Average Damage
-Total - 100.8
-Reg. Attacks - 128.1
-Parries - 75.8
-Blocks - 79.7
Notes: Socketing nothing but parry manastones gave me the lowest Total Average Damage of 100.8 compared to Baselines 109.4 and Block manastoned 103.6.

PARRY AND BLOCK MANASTONES SOCKETED (used 6 +16 parry manastones and 6 +16 Block manastones)
Number of hits out of 100
-Regular attack - 52
-Parried - 28
-Blocked - 20
Average Damage
-Total - 104.7
Reg. Attacks - 130.7
Parries - 78.7
Blocks - 77.1

FINAL THOUGHTS: Honestly I wouldn't waste my slots at this point on Parry or Block Manastones. I would rather stack up Attack/Crit/HP stones, I think they are much more worth the space. But I know there can be a big issue with the accuracy of the results because I didn't use a large enough pool of information. But honestly I didn't feel like collecting 1000 hits for each set-up, which probably would have given me a much more accurate result. Also I know im only level 20 so I guess this really shouldn't apply to end game theory. But hopefully this will help to settle the debate over which manastones are better to socket in ur gear, or maybe some more people will follow up by doing some of their own tests! Mine took about a total of 4-5 hours cause im slow like that. But personally if I had to choose, I would go with Parry because we have a skill called "Shield Defense" which litterally gives you about a 50% chance to block (i also did a test for that!) Only thing is..you cant Parry while in Shield Defense...so there are just a lot of different circumstances to take into accout.

p.s. SORRY FOR THE LONG POST!! But its my first post ever so i wanted to make it worth it =D. ENJOY

Million dollar question

FuegoPanocha — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:26:51 GMT

Do divine fury and empryean fury stack?:study: my lvl 50 pvp build

http://www.aionarmory.com/stigmaCalc...24:416:411:412

yosh!

Shared Cooldowns

Jaguar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:07:57 GMT

Does anyone know all the skills/stigmas that share cooldown? Been browsing a bit and seems to be a few skills/stigmas that share cooldown, making one of them redudant or less desirable. Anyone have such a list?

Asmodian Templar Skills > Elyos Templar Skills?

ZombieInfection — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:14:34 GMT

It seems to me like NCSoft made it a point to make Asmodian Templars have better skills than Elyos Templars. Not only do most skills that have an Asmodian and Elyos counterpart have shorter cooldowns for the Asmodians, they also heal them or negate damage completely, whereas for Elyos have twice as long a cooldown and either just stun for 2 seconds or block a certain number of attacks. So what does anyone else think? Does you think NCSoft should do something about this? At least let the skills have equal cooldowns.

Here's a list of some:

Asmodian Version | Elyos Version
Righteous Punishment I | Holy Punishment I
Punishment of Darkness I | Punishment of Light I
Chastisement of Darkness IV | Divine Chastisement IV
Ancestral Righteous Punishment I | Ancestral Holy Punishment I
Slash Artery I | Shield Retribution I

Rants of a new Templar

Zangesta — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:43:38 GMT

Today I had a rather frustrating time tanking the black claw area for the billionth time (not literally, but I've been there a -lot-) and I just needed a place to vent. There will be generalizations here, they are not directed at anyone in particular.. it is a venting post!

Gladiators - I realize in the first elite area, you can tank, you can off tank, whatever. However! You invited me to be the tank. If I ask for lead so I can mark, do not tell me you can do it for me unless you're prepared to also mark adds to be CC'd when a sorc is available. If you do insist on marking, please don't tell the sorc to sleep something, and then break it with aoe. Also, do not treat me like I'm a know nothing about an area when I've told you I do. I know not all Templars are stellar, but at least give me a chance to shine. If you insist on pulling bosses, don't complain to me when you die, don't yell at the cleric you told to wait in the tunnel. If you would have let me pull, or cleared out the adds as I had told you we should do, you would not have died. In short, if you're going to invite me to a group, you need to let me tank. If you want to tank, roll a Templar.

Cleric - I understand that the early areas don't do so much damage, and this may cause you to get bored. This does not make it okay to try and wipe the group so you can have some 'fun.' I would rather you do some dps (as long as you keep an eye on my health) than pull additional mobs. I promise, I chain pull (when I can mark, and I know other classes know their roles that is..)

Sorc - I realize that it's easy to get caught up in that uber dps, but please keep an eye out for pats, and/or adds. You don't have to finish casting uberwtfpwnage spell before you move, especially if it means getting out of the way of an incoming patrol, or sleeping something that accidentally got picked up.

Dps - Tab target does not always select what you think it should, or want it to. Be wary of what you have selected, especially if you're ranged. I know everyone has different quests, and I told you we'd do them, so don't all go running off in different directions trying to lead the group to your quest, we will get there. Lastly if I am not pulling fast enough for you, this is not an okay for you to pull for me. More than likely one of my few aggro building skills is on cooldown and I'm waiting a few seconds for it to be up again.

/endrant

-=Note=- Today was the only time in all the times I've tanked it that I've had the above troubles all grouped into one, also the only time I've had a glad trying to completely control the group.

Questions on Stigma

ZombieInfection — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:42:52 GMT

How useful is Break Power III in general? I mean, I suppose you could make the effect nearly constant, but does it make much of a difference? Does it justify leaving Divine Slash IV or Terrible Howl I for it?

What about Terrible Howl I? How useful is that?

Also, is Punishment of Darkness I only available for Asmodians or can Elyos also obtain it by farming in Asmodian lands?

Finally, when Holy Shield III says reflect damage, does it mean it's negated and reflected back or do you take the damage as well as reflecting it?

Thanks guys!

P.S. Is there a way to bump your own threads if no one has posted in them yet?

Other classes explained for Templars

shaded — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:02:45 GMT

Please, do NOT take this post too serious.
There will be a lot of generalization and even prejudice.
However, you will eventually find some helpfull points in this post to make your (pickup) PVE-group play more effective.....and fun. ;o)
Forgive if I forgot some abilities of some classes, I only played them into the tens and twenties.

At the end, it is my personal experience, so don't go and say I said all of other-class-players are like that.

ASSASSINS
1. What they can do:
  - A lot of damage
  - Stun
  - Interrupt
  - Reduce Threat
  - Sneak
  - Increase Loot
2. What they should do:
  - Stay behind you
  - Wait for you to mark & pull
  - Attack the marked and properly pulled target
  - Save their stuns/interrupts until they see the mob casting "Bad Spell of Death"
  - Reduce Threat if you are tanking more than 1 or 2 targets and they get some lucky crits in a row
3. What they usually do:
  - Walk/Sneak infront of you cause otherwise they could not be the first one to see the next mob
  - Shadow Step to the back of the nearest target the split second you pull but before you even hit it once.
    If you're lucky, that is. If not, they will jump to it's back before you even assigned your marks.
  - Use their "Combo points" as soon as they got 5, or even 3 to place a finisher for more damage.
    Stun/Interrupt is for the weak, you know. If you need it, your healer sucks and/or you are a bad tank.
4. What you can do:
  - Tell them - politely - to stay behind you.
    If they won't listen, tell your healer to go make himself a coffee.
    Next pack, do nothing! The assassin will have initial aggro and tank for like 30 seconds until he's dead.
    Be prepared for some QQ now, send your healer a smily and proceed. He will stay behind you from now on.
  - Don't panic if the mob attacks the assassin for a few seconds, because he was the first one to hit it.
    They can take it and will even dodge ~>30% of all incoming damage.
    The mob will start attacking you eventually and you can proceed as usual.
  - Be prepared for the "Bad Spell of Death" to NOT get interrupted. Save your IJ/SB for that if you know the encounter.
    Wait for the enemy castbar to be like 80% and interrupt yourself if needed.
    If everything is on cd, just take the spell and rely on your healer to not let you die.
CHANTERS
1. What they can do:
  - Medium to decent damage
  - Buff the whole group
  - Debuff regular mobs and some bosses
  - Use Mantras to support your group
  - Heal
2. What they should do:
  - Buff the whole group instead of the Cleric cause of their buff being stronger.
  - Adjust their Mantras to the group composition
    If you have more casters than melees, +Magic damage/accuracy beats +physical dmg
    If your tanking equip is sub par in relation to the instance, they should use +def Mantra. If it's not, go for +crit.
    +Mana regen Mantra is pretty standard but if your healer wants healing support, +HP regen Mantra
  - Stay behind you
  - Wait for you to mark & pull
  - Attack the marked and properly pulled target
  - Have an eye on the HP bars of the group.
    There are times when your Cleric is at full load to only heal you alone.
    Those are the times good Chanters can jump in an save one dps'er life
3. What they usually do:
  - Buff the whole group (yes, really)
  - Use the Mantras that are most beneficial to themselves.
    Remember: They are used to play alone and Mantras stay up forever (until death or logout) so they may just don't think about them.
  - Not watching any HP bars at all, unless you ask them to do so.
    Most of them are quite happy to throw a heal every now and then. Makes them have some responsibility.
4. What you can do:
  - Watch your HP buff. If it's +10%, ask them to buff the group. If it's +15%, everything is fine.
  - Ask them to adjust their Mantras according to your group if they don't do it by themselves.
    Remember: You are the group leader.
    If you want to play it safe and go for more +def instead of more +dmg than it is YOUR decision alone.
    You are the one that gets his face smacked. You decide if you can take it or not. Nonone else.
    Remember also: Mantras are limited to 3 at a time. You can't have all the cookies.
CLERICS
1. What they can do:
  - Medium to decent damage
  - Buff the whole group
  - Debuff regular mobs and some bosses
  - CC
  - Heal
2. What they should do:
  - Buff the whole group if there is no Chanter present.
  - Keep you and themselves alive
    I am level 38 by the time I am writing this and can safely say that it is perfectly possible to beat every encounter up to this time as long as the tank and healer are alive.
  - Keep the group alive
    Random Secondary Target Aggro and AOE, only.
    Clerics should NOT heal any dps that either overnuked while fighting multiple mobs or took initial aggro and continues to fire, not giving you a chance to get the mob back.
    Everything that will lead to is healing aggro, followed by the Cleric being permanently interrupted while trying to heal himself, followed by a dead healer, followed by a dead group.
    Yes, that can be avoided if everyone reacts right but if you were with those type of players then the situation would not have encountered in the frst place.
  - CC the mob they pulled aggro from and step aside before healing themselves to not get interrupted.
3. What they usually do:
  - Buff the whole group
  - Desperately trying to heal everyone thats HP bar is not filled up to 100%, no matter what situation
  - Sometimes play dps and forgetting to heal you.
  - Not using their CC at all
4. What you can do:
  - Check your buffs
  - Drag & Drop the player frame of your Cleric to the first place in your group frame
    This is the one HP bar you must have an eye on. Always. And that IS imperative!
    If you see it depleting, look around what is going wrong and react accordingly. No matter what you are currently doing.
    It is YOUR job to keep the Cleric alive and prevent all dangers from happening to him.
    If you realize that you are having a not-so-decent group, save your IJ and SB for emergency.
    Those two skills alone will buy you enough time to get back control over the fight again.
    Even if the mob still runs back to the Cleric (very unlikely to happen) once you have him IJ'ed and bashed he will have healed himself and you up to 100% in that time.
  - Tell him not to dps if he forgets healing while doing so
    Good Clerics can do both, without pulling aggro.
    They just target you, heal you, assist you, hit the mob, assist the mob, heal you and so on. It's not that hard but it's a little advanced playstyle, however.
GLADIATORS
1. What they can do:
  - A lot of damage
  - AOE
2. What they should do:
  - Ask you if you play with or without CC so they can decide whether or not to use their arsenal of AOE skills
  - Stay behind you
  - Wait for you to mark & pull
  - Attack the marked and properly pulled target
3. What they usually do:
  - Walk infront of you cause otherwise they could not be the first one to see the next mob.
    And if they "accidently" pull anything because of "lag" they start to play tank and expect the Cleric to heal them and you at the same time.
    Because they are wearing plate, you know. Shields are for the weak. The mitigation it provides is useless and all the damage reducing skills we have are compensated with their high amount of dps while tanking.
    When the instance is finished they will tell their legion what failure of a tank you are and how they saved the the day for the whole party.
  - Time their AOE so perfectly down to a fraction of a second that it always lands in the very moment when any CC has just been applied.
    Not only once but for the rest of the instance. Even if the CC is re-applied, the next AOE will come when the chain is off cooldown again.
4. What you can do:
  - Tell them - politely - to stay behind you.
    If they won't listen, repeat the "Assassin-procedure".
  - Expect the worst, hope for the best.
    Drag the mob that you are about to kill at least 10m away from the CC'ed one so any AOE can be safely executed.
  - Don't panic if the mob attacks the Gladiator for a few seconds, because he was the first one to hit it or his AOE did more aggro on the secondary target then your attacks did. They can take it. They are wearing plate, you remember?
RANGERS
1. What they can do:
  - A lot of damage
  - AOE
  - CC
  - Interrupt
2. What they should do:
  - Ask you if you play with or without CC so they can decide whether or not to use their AOE.
  - Stay behind you - but - close to the rest of the group
  - Wait for you to mark & pull
  - Attack the marked and properly pulled target
  - Place & refresh a trap infront of the Clerics' feet so an aggro'ed mob won't reach him
  - Use Sleep-Arrow to either interrupt "Bad Spell of Death" or save a Cleric that is in danger
3. What they usually do:
  - Use their range
    Rangers tend to spread out as far as possible, cause they can shoot from a long distance, you know?
    And they want to show you that.
    However, they actually don't want to show you how good they are in pulling pats or additional groups while spreading out.
    Nevertheless, they are going to do exactly that, eventually.
  - Tab-Selecting-Auto-Shot
    Even though Auto-Shot doesn't work reliably for them, they tend to press tab to select the next target and for the simple reason they stand so widely spread, chances are that they will tab the wrong target which will then bring some friends to your boring fight.
    If you dare to ask who did that and why that happened afterwards, don't think you just got disconnected. The chat will stay calm forever, unless you change the topic.
  - Occasinally break CC when their multishot is off cd and all other skills are on cd.
4. What you can do:
  - Tell them to stay with the rest of the party.
  - Watch your surroundings when target 1 is dead and you are about to hit target 2.
    If there is anything heading to your groups' direction.....well, you know why. React accordingly.
  - Have an eye on the CC'ed target and see if it breaks.
    You always should, since you have to taunt him whenever possible.
SORCERERS
1. What they can do:
  - A hell of a lot of damage
  - AOE
  - CC
  - CC
  - CC
  - Interrupt
  - Set up a portal to your factions capital city
2. What they should do:
  - Stay behind you
  - Wait for you to mark & pull
  - Apply their CC to the assigned target
  - Refresh CC when it fades and target 1 is not dead AND you did not already pull target 2
  - Re-Apply CC when any dps'er breaks it AND you don't say "ok fu...CC I tank them all"
  - Use any CC spell to either interrupt "Bad Spell of Death" or save a Cleric that is in danger
  - Set up a portal to your factions capital city when the instance is finished
3. What they usually do:
  - Apply their CC before you pull
  - Be the first ones that rage about anyone who uses AOE on CC'ed targets
  - Either not re-applying CC cause that would mess up their damage rotation OR
  - Desperately trying to re-apply it even though you already have the situation under control and are tanking them all.
  - Set up a portal to your factions capital city when the instance is finished
4. What you can do:
  - Tell them to stay with the rest of the party.
  - Ask them to please wait with CC until you pulled
    Initial aggro is a very important factor in this game.
    If you are the one who starts the fight, chances are you will be the one who has full control over it.
    If the sorc has initial aggro, chances are that his CC target will attack him, even though you perma-provoked it.
    And remember, there will always be CC breakers. Initial aggro on you means: Break CC -> mob will run to you.
    Whereas initial aggro on Sorcerer means: Break CC -> mob will run to him.
  - Wait if the Sorcerer complains about CC-breakers so you don't have to be the one that is always beefing.
SPIRITMASTERS
1. What they can do:
  - A lot of damage
  - AOE
  - CC
  - Interrupt
  - Port other players to their location
  - Increase Drop-Chance
  - Provide an Off-Tank
2. What they should do:
  - Use the proper spirit for the instance
    Bringing a fire spirit to the fire temple is probably not the smartest thing to do.
  - Stay behind you - but - close to the rest of the group
  - Wait for you to mark & pull
  - Attack the marked and properly pulled target
  - Use Fear to save a Cleric that is in danger, ONLY
    That is, if they are new to their class.
    Compared to WoW, for example, fear is predictable in Aion. The mob will always run away from the SM. Take that literally.
    If the SM faces a wall and uses fear, the mob will run against the wall.
    If he faces another mob group and uses fear....guess what? Right, bad things will happen.
    Anyhow, if your cleric is about to die, every possible method to save him is valid, even fear.
    You are about to wipe, it can't get worse. But it can get better. Even if you add another group, chances are that the rest of your party applies their CC, your Gladiator off-tanks one (justified in that situation), your SM sends his pet to another mob.
    You can be saved. As long as your healer stays alive and keeps you alive.
  - Apply their drop chance multiplier on bosses at like 10% HP
3. What they usually do:
  - Use a pet which style they like the most (no joke, I was asking some of them)
  - Sitting around waiting for mana to replenish
  - Saying they don't have that summoning stone reagent thingy so 5 people have to wait for the last party member just because that saves them some Kinah
  - Timing their drop chance multiplier wrong or not using it at all
4. What you can do:
  - Tell them to read the SM forum where all kinds of spirits are explained into the very detail
  - Watch their mana bar or ignore it and proceed
    Trust me, it will deplete way faster then the one of your cleric. I have yet to see one healer going oom only once.
    Having one dps more or less for the next pull.....does that matter? Your decision.
  - Mark them as greedy basterds if they refuse to port a group mate.
    It's like running around without (or not using) HP-Pots and Rezz-Stones as a tank. You just don't do that.
  - Ask them if they know how their drop chance multiplier works

At what level can you start doing the platinum coin quests?

68strat — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:55:33 GMT

I am asmodian...what level do i need to be to start these quests and where do I go to start them? Currently I am about to hit 44.

Thanks!

Tanking Fire Temple...

Laolsia — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:56:54 GMT

I just recently hit 30 and finished up 3Keys on my Templar so I could do Fire Temple. I've been told by some people that my hp is too low and I should redo my gems or wait til 33/34 to tank it? Can anyone give me a bare minimum for tanking FT and can I tank it with what I have now, Aion™ Online :: Character & Legion

MP Management

archapman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:50:51 GMT

I'm a relatively new Templar still learning my trade. Solo grinding in PvE to learn my skills and about cooldown management etc.

Up until now, I've had no problems with my MP. To the point I don't bother carrying any MP recovery items.

However last night I was doing the Sataloca's Heartbeat quest in Eltnen - 14 Hulking Kurin's plus 13 Maned Basilisk.
I think I was doing well. All 14 Kurins and up to 10 Basilisk without resting - pull 1, spam skills, find next, pull etc.
I noticed my MP was down to below 10%. I rested for a few seconds to restore MP (and health as I screwed up the last Basilisk)

My question is - Do Templars as they become higher level start using more MP and is it a good idea to carry MP recovery items? And would this apply when grouping as a Tank and in PvP too? Or was I mismanaging my skills - overuse of MP heavy ones?

Solo'ing Sulfur

Tazer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:23:33 GMT

Has anyone tried this after patch? A ranger said his skill did not work with it

Elyos Plat Coin Gear

Vadriella — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:18:58 GMT

Pure PVE Tank build @40

Zaax — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:11:47 GMT

I have been reading these forums and searching the guides for thoughts on PURE PvE builds for Templars, and I am still a bit confused. A friend of mine recently quit the game and gave me his 40 Templar. I would like to use this Templar for Tanking PvE encounters with my core group of friends since we all know Temps are in short supply. I am unsure how to manastone his gear though.

From what I have gathered, at 40 I should shoot for 1900 SB and at least 350 Crit, using crit scrolls / food as needed to assist in aggro. Others suggest stacking a few attack stones and crit stones. Is this correct?

Consider that this Templar has the best crafted gear for his level, and some mixed in golds. How possible is it to reach 1900 SB and still have slots left for attack and crit? Or should I go for 1900(or is there a better number?) SB and then stack HPS since Im not concerned with PvP?

Any thoughts would be apprechiated. Please remember that I will never use this templar for PvP, he will be solely used for PvE tanking.

How to Templar

Pixi — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:21:50 GMT

How to Templar

Disclaimer:
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the disclaimer! That’s right, the disclaimer! This internet apple pie institution known as community discretion will cleanse any sense of innuendo or sarcasm from the elements that might actually make you think, and will also insult your intelligence at the same time. So… protect your e-peen! This post contains explicit depictions of things which are REAL. These REAL things are commonly known as TANKING. So! If it sounds sarcastic, don’t take it seriously. If it sounds dangerous, do not try this at home or at all. And if it offends you, just… don’t listen to it.

Additional Clarification:
Unfortunately I'm not know for my tact, be it on community forums or in real life. I'm straight forward and to the point. Please understand that this is in now way a DEFINITIVE guide, but is based entirely on my experience running groups most of the time in this game. These are my opinions, not necessarily 100% factual. Please make sure to contribute to this thread and post your experiences and what works for you. Let's openly discuss or debate points. Let's not flame each other or start insulting each other for no reason whatsoever. Keep it light and enjoy!

So, I thought it's about time to enlighten the inexperienced (that's right folks, inexperienced, not all you high level Temps who already know your stuff!) with some tips on tanking. This is a good read for all classes, not just Templars. A lot of people don't understand how enmity (threat/aggro) and tanking works in Aion and this should help to clarify some misunderstandings.

If you're a Templar mainly interested in doing loads of damage while soloing, your exit is that way >, thanks for coming! I will however cover that later in a later article, so don't upset read that I'm saying you suck at tanking because you're DPS specced! This is mainly for Templars who want to be the best tank they can be for their groups, solely focusing on PVE stigmas builds.

Quote:

There has been some debate as to the target audience. If you're level 40+, this will benefit you the most, however, the principals in this post should guide any Templar on their road to awesome.

Checklist:

[ ] Do I know how to lead a group?
[ ] Do I know how to Mark enemies?
[ ] Do I understand how Enmity (Threat/Aggro) generation works?
[ ] Do I have the Inescapable Judgement stigma?
[ ] Do I have the Provoking Roar stigma?
[ ] Do I have the Incite Rage stigma?
[ ] Do I have the Bodyguard stigma?
[ ] Do I know which advanced stigmas to start using at 45?
[ ] Do I know how to juggle taunt?
[ ] Do I know what to do in "Oh ****!" situations?
[ ] Do I know what to socket in my gear's slots?
[ ] Is my gear up to date?

If you're answer is "No" to most of these questions, that does not mean you suck at tanking, but I politely suggest you have a deeper look. Let's me elaborate on each point below.

[1] Leading:
Yes, you are by default, 99% of the time, expected to know where to go, what to do, and how to do it, in other words, lead your group. If you don't know what to do, find out, you will save yourself a lot of trouble and frustration in the long run. You are their sheperd, and they are your sheep, your role is protection and they follow you pretty much by default.

[2] Marking:
If you never mark enemies in an instance, or even the opposing factions players, you are made of fail. If you do mark, but do so by right clicking on the mob and using the brand menu, you fail even more. The developers created Key Mapping section (System Menu > Options) for a reason. You can map any and all brands available in the game to any keys on your keyboard.

Now, when you are ready to mark like a pro, bind the following keys to these brands:

F1 = 1
F2 = 2
F3 = 3
F4 = ZZZ

Most people understand 1, 2, 3 and ZZZ (Crowd Control/CC) and if they don't, I'd leave that group immediately! :P They will know to kill 1 first, then 2, then 3 and then the CCed enemy, no explanation necessary (hopefully). Obviously if there are only 2 enemies, you will mark the first with 1 and the second with ZZZ if you have a CCer in your group. If you don't have a CCer in your group, your best bet is to at least have a Gladiator who can easily off-tank an enemy if necessary.

That being said, make sure that the players in your group understands the roles they have to play for your venture into . You should definitely KNOW what other classes are capable of doing in order to use them to reach the full potential of you group.

[3] Enmity: (If you're not a Templar, read this anyway)
The invisible stat that makes an enemy decide who he's going to smack around the most. Enmity generation in Aion is hard work and takes concentration from a Templar's side. If you lack focus, you will not be a good protector (which is our aim right?). Templars have the best tools to generate enmity in the game, period. You have Aggravation, a passive skill that increases enmity on an enemy with every hit you do, and you have 3 "taunts" at your disposal. If you learn to use them correctly (assuming you bothered to slot the right stigmas), your group will love you, especially your cleric! Let me clarify that "taunt" in this game is not by any definition even remotely the same as in, for example, World of Warcraft. In World of Warcraft, when you taunt an enemy, it SWOPS aggro with the DPSer that thad the highest threat. Not so in Aion, it simply increases the amount of enmity you already have on the enemy. That means if you don't have aggro on a mob, and you taunt it, you still might not get aggro back if the taunt doesn't put your threat over the threshold of another player that might have more.

This of course can lead to dry wells filling up because of all the QQ. You might have asked yourself, "Am I good tank? It seems that I just can't keep aggro". Never fear, just keep reading and you should be sorted and ready to go at the end of this article.

A very important thing to note: If you are the initial player that aggros an enemy, you gain a lot more threat than your group. You may have noticed during pulls that if another player in your group did the aggroing, it usually takes you about 5 seconds or so to get aggro back from him. This is the reason you should ALWAYS do the pulling and save yourself some trouble.

[4] Inescapable Judgement: (Thanks for reminding me Ratto)
This is an indispensable skill, regardless if you're PVE or PVP minded. It pulls a target enemy from a distance straight to you. It is especially useful for pulling ranged enemies to avoid them accidently aggro patrols after you used IJ on a melee mob instead. IJ also generates enmity and adds to your overall tanking capability. One of the best features of this skill is that it can be used as a form of CC, it does prevent your target from doing anything for a couple of seconds, it also interrupts any skills they were casting. If you don't have this skill, you simply fail, thanks for playing.

[5] Provoking Roar:
This is an AOE skill, it's a must have if you intend to keep aggro on all the enemies you're taking on. When you did your pull, try to position yourself so that it will affect all your enemies on each cool down. Spam spam spam! It's good for your soul!

[6] Incite Rage:
This is as close you will come to an "aggro swop", although that's not what it really does. Incite Rage generates A LOT of enmity on your targeted enemy, and even more so in patch 1.5.2. The trick is to know WHEN to use Incite Rage, which we will get to later.

[6] Bodyguard: (If you're not a Templar, read this anyway)
If you ever do lose aggro on an enemy to some DPSer/Healer is trying to enlarge the his e-peen even more, you can allow him to continue doing so by casting Bodyguard him. This will make you take all the damage that he receives without leaving a mark. It's important to notice the following three things about bodyguard:

It has a 10 meter range, so you have to stay in a 10 meter range of the player you cast it on. I say YOU have to, because most of the time he won't even know bodyguard was cast on him unless you told him. And even if you DID tell him, odds are they don't know the range limitation and don't even know what it does. A DPSer/Healer's first reaction is 90% of the time to bail and head for the hills when they get aggro.
It has a 2 minute cooldown, use it wisely. This means, use it if you're not confident that you will be able to get back aggro from the player fast enough. Always save it for your Cleric in small fights.
The damage you take is unmitigated. If the player gets hit for 2000, you get hit for 2000, it does not filter through your block/parry/defense stats.

Rather a dead DPSer than a dead Cleric. And of course, rather no one dead at all.

[7] Advanced Stigmas:
I'll keep this short, your object is to protect and to be as survivable as possible. My personal preference was to go for the Great Resuscitation stigma, an instant cast 2181 heal. You can imagine how useful it is when you have Empyrean Armor and Hand of Healing on cool down. Perfect for those "Oh ****!" moments we will get to later.

[8] Juggle Taunting:
So, as I said, we'll get to the part that seperates the real Templars from the rest, and that is of course, juggling! *Applause for effect*. Basically, what juggle taunting means is, you have to learn how to use your TAB key!

Scenario 1: (AKA Epic Fail)
There are two enemies. You mark the first with 1, the group now knows to kill 1 first. You mark the second with ZZZ, the Sorceror in your group nods, he knows to CC that enemy. You go in for the kill, in an awesome blaze of glory, you use your ("GET OVER HERE" - Scorpion) trademark skill and start whacking 1. You blow your cooldowns, you spank it, you spit on it, you insult it's mother. 1 dies, now for the next one marked with ZZZ! Again, you use your sexy Inescapable Judgement and start whaling on the mob, only to realize that it's ignoring you like a stop street and is missioning straight for your Cleric. You ask yourself, "WTF, why is it not attacking me?" The Cleric gets a fright, starts running and healing himself, his fingers slip, he dies, your group dies! Everyone blames you. Epic fail!

Scenario 2: (Made of Win)
There are two enemies. You mark the first with 1, the group knows to kill 1 first. You mark the second with ZZZ, the Sorceror in your group nods, he knows to CC that enemy. You go in for the kill, in an awesome blaze of glory, you use yoru ("GET OVER HERE" - Scorpion) trademark skill and start whackhing 1. You blow your cooldowns, you spank it, you spit on it, you insult it's mother. You hit tab to focus on the ZZZ mob, you use Provoke , you tab back to 1, you continue whacking it, you spam Provoking Roar, 1 dies. Again, you use your sexy Inescapable Judgement and start whaling on the mob, you blow your cooldowns, you spank it, you spit on it, you insult it's mother. ZZZ dies. You win.

See what I did there? You have to learn to toggle between enemies and use your provocation skills to keep them interested in your insults. The reason for this is, CCed mobs will still build threat on a Cleric or CCer while your whacking the first one if you allow it to happen. The object is to build threat on other enemies while tanking the one right in front of you. Get it? Got it? Good!

Edit:

Quote:

As mentioned by Eiris in his post, TAB is not necessarily the best way to go. You can create a macro to target the mob and taunt it, it apparently has zero delay. Personally I use Tab or bind the marks to a key so i can easily select any target I've already marked by just hitting a key.

[9] Oh ****!
So far, you've been an excellent tank, your group loves you, you are the (WO)MAN. But... Accidents do happen, a crappy pull, and accidental aggro by another group member. If you're not confident that your group can handle the amount of mobs pulled, there is one thing left to do, die! You have a choice of course on HOW you die, and usually I prefer the self-sacrificing method. Tell your group to bolt, get the hell out of there, you spam Provoking Roar, you hit Iron Shield, you put your Shield Wall Defense on, and allow your group members to escape. Yes, I know, it sucks, but, you're a Templar, and the benefit is of course that only 1 person dies, the group can come back and resurrect you. We all know the wonderful Kinah costs involved with dying, and it's good if only you die because it will keep up group morale.

[10] Manastones:
This is a point of contention amongst the Templar community. It goes this way or that way. What I type here, is solely my opinion. Personally I stack all Crit, it majorly increases my enmity along with all the stigmas I use for enmity generation. It should be noted that I've only done so at level 43 after obtaining Betoni's sword, the results are incredible. Even soloing is a blast with an all out Crit build. You also don't sacrifice too much because your gear makes up for the loss in HP (assuming you keep it updated, which we will cover next).

I would strongly recommend stacking HP/Shield Defense if you are under 35 as it will increase your survivability. The amount of Crit you can stack beneath 35 is not that great, which doesn't make it so efficient. However, there are those who will disagree with me and I humbly accept it.

[11] Gear:
I cannot stress this point enough: As far as your Kinah/Crafting will go, keep your gear as up to date as you can. The Templar is a highly gear dependant class and you will do well to keep that in mind. You definitely notice how your survivability drops the higher you go without changing your gear. If you can, get blues, farm it, craft it, but get decent blues. There's nothing wrong with greens, but you will see a major change while wearing blue items, they also generally last longer meaning you don't have to swop it out as much. If you can get yellows, well, obviously, get them :P

I will keep reviewing this post and add any useful information contributed in replies. If you have anything to add, please post it!

To the DPSers and Clerics reading this thread:
If you'd like to make your Templar's life a little easier, you can follow these easy steps to pure win:

Give your Templar a couple of seconds to gain aggro. Save your full on nukes for later in your rotation.
Clerics, please stand as far away from CCed mobs as possible. Your healing generates a lot of enmity and can be quit hard to regain if you did a lot of group heals for some reason.
Don't panic when a mob is on you, we Templars already saw it and working on it. We will either try to regain aggro as fast as possible or cast bodyguard on you so you don't take any damage.
If you have a Enmity Reducing skill, use it at every cooldown, even if you have an excellent Templar. Better safe that sorry and you have these skills for a reason.
Make sure you let your Templar do ALL the pulling, you make the situation worse by aggroing a group of mobs first and your Templar loses a lot of enmity generation capability.

If there's anything else I could add to this list, please post it and I'll update this OP. :study:

Worth crafting lvl45 orange shield?

Drakie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:00:31 GMT

I'm atm lvl46 and really starting to hate my old lvl33 +5 shield since the block rating is just getting to low.
I've been looking around what shields people run around with and it seems that a lot of people go for different things.

Was wondering what you guys think!?

IMO there are 2 options
1) Grabbing a (relatively) cheap ~lvl45 blue to sit it out till we get the sweet DP shield.
2) Making a good effort to get a ~lvl45 orange and then there's no rush to DP shield.

for 1) we'd go for once of these (most likely the crafted) and hopefully get one of these soon.

for 2) we'd go for once of these (again most likely the crafted)

Since a dropped lvl50 orange shield requires drop chances (and thus luck) IMO trying to get a good lvl45 orange crafted seems to be the better idea.

Expert Noble Orichalcum Shield is a epic procced craft with about 3mil costs per craft.

Here a comparison of the lvl45 crafted with 2 nice lvl50 shields (DP and crafted) : Item Comparison - Aion Armory

our lvl45 shield
Aion Armory Item
790 block
196 HP

other lvl50 shields
Aion Armory Item
831 block
4.7% threat increase
105 HP

Aion Armory Item
840 block
211 HP

Its a 50 difference in block (5%) basicly.
Ofcource the 5% threat is really nice to get but hard.

Now, do you guys think it's worth getting that lvl45 shield?

Whiny Style B*tch

Aurelion — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:50:35 GMT

Thread...

e: For better lolz, listen to this while reading: YouTube- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Theme Song
Well, ok, is there any way to remodel, alter or hide abyss equipment (or get allternative ap eq) since I have absolutely NO will to be a transformer/power ranger mega zord kind of templar :)

(mech.jpg, i lol'd)

e2: Make my monster grooooow! nhiahiaha