1. #1

    Proving Grounds - Endless Mode Tank Discussion (Protection Warrior)

    Hey guys, I am posting this up here to get some feed back from my fellow tanks whom have attempted, whether successfully or unsuccessfully completed Wave 30 of Endless difficulty.

    I am primarily looking for feedback from Warrior tanks on this.

    As for me, on my best attempt I reached Rank 17 on Endless, however this is a falls quite short of the Wave 30 requirement.
    First off, for my talent specialization I have opted into:
    - Double time - For the added mobility to and from various mobs.
    - Impending Victory - Set bonuses from T15 don't seem to work here, and Sikari's heals, more often than not, fall short of keeping me stable.
    - Staggering Shout - The thought of even having to pick this was extremely frustrating for me, as Piercing Howl currently DOES NOT WORK, on mobs within the Tank Trial, however it works on mobs within the Damage Trial counterpart of the scenario. I use this in tandem with Hamstring to allow me to distance myself from more dangerous mobs.
    - Shockwave - This talent is essential to use against groups of 3 or more dangerous enemies. The 20sec. C/D reduction upon hitting 3+ targets that was implemented a while ago is also nice.
    -Mass Spell Reflection - This helps redirect some of the Pyroblasts/Fire Balls from Yaungol Fire Mages.
    -Stormbolt - The 50% Movement Speed Reduction component of Bloodbath, like Piercing Howl, does not work on mobs in the tank trial. The stun that Stormbolt provides is invaluable, its C/D is short enough to include in a rotation.

    And in terms of Major Glyphs:
    -Blitz, The functionality of Blitz allows you to stun 2 targets adjacent to eachother, which ultimately helps in mitigation
    -Long Charge, +5 yards on Charge range. This helps you get around the room quicker, and cover more ground.
    -Victorious Throw , This ability allows you to use your Impending Victory/Victory Rush at range, which is helpful when you are trying to keep yourself alive and kite at the same time.

    As a general rule of thumb,
    -I try to keep the Hozen Ambushers rooted/stunned with Hamstring+Staggering Shout/Shockwave to reduce Fan of Bananas cast
    -I hold the Mantid Wind Thrower as priority for Disarm/Stormbolt, when applicable I stun them with Shockwave (as long as I can make sure 3+ mobs can be caught in it), I find they melee the hardest among the disarmable mobs
    -I allow the Yaungol Fire Mages to fully cast their Invoke Lava, and tank incoming mobs within them to help with DPS and thus, ultimately mitigating incoming damage. Then make sure to either Mass Spell Reflect/Spell Reflect their Pyroblast/Fire Ball casts, and then subsequently interrupt further casts with Pummel
    -I rotate in Intimidating Shout as a form of mitigation against larger, more dangerous groups of monsters.

    Now, my point of difficulty comes at around Wave 13-17, where there are simply too many mobs, and the +1% Extra Damage Dealt/Per Wave/Per Mob buff that stacks up on hostile mobs gets to be fairly noticeable around that time as well. The problem that I am having is that I don't know how to rotate through my cooldowns efficiently at this point, as well, I have all these mobs on me, and I begin to run out of CC/Mitigation cooldowns relatively quickly.

    One of the things I'm trying to work out is how many mobs to pick up in the later phases, I cant possibly tank them all at once, in an attempt I put in a couple minute ago I got to Wave 19 before it was just too much, and I went down.

    Does anyone have any thoughts? Please share your experiences and suggestions below.

  2. #2
    The Patient
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    Piercing howl does in fact work. It just does not slow them as much as it says. If you could use this ability the entire endless mode would be a joke for warriors. However I did not find staggering shout to work - used it on the first wave only to test it and scrapped it when they did not get rooted.
    I got to wave 19 using 5 try's or so, and I am not doing damage to the mobs at all.. just taunting kiting, intervene, charge and leap around, when i finally run in. I use shockwave to stun em and run away again.

    I didn't try to use harmstring at all, but if it actually works slowing the mobs for 50% then I will be doing that from now on. I just didn't think it would work when Piercing how did not work 100%.

    I like the idea of vicious throw I might try that. Since it would be nice for the wind throwers. I find that mass spell reflect is not needed since the caster mobs literaly does no damage, and they are always killed first by your ally.

    The waves I find hard is wave 6, 7 and 9 - and since it's repeating itself every 10 wave 16, 17 and 19. Hence I died on wave 19.

    Wave 6 is when the 3 wind throwers spawn. They move fast and hit extremely hard, and if u are unlucky you can get pushed away 3 times in a row while they fly off to kill your ally leaving you to charge ind and take aggro - which will make you take alot of damage if u dont have a way to escape them right after.

    Because the 3 wind throwers are only 3 mobs, they will not be aoe'd (since you need 4 mobs to be active for the ally to start aoe'ing) - this means you will have 1-2 wind throwers up at wave 7 plus all the other adds - this is usually when i pop a cooldown. Luckily wave 8 is really really easy starting of with only 1 caster add and later the monkeys spawning 1 by 1.

    I ran with second wind since i figured it would help me more in dire times in a shieldwall / shieldbarrier on low hp - though im not sure wheater its the right choice.

    I did not use blitz or long charge, but used the 20 extra rage to pool before the hard waves so I could use shield barrierx2 or block at the same time. Also I did glyph for the enraged speed, to help kite - it works wonders when piercing howl is up you can actually outrun them with the 20% run speed.

    also I did not have run speed enchant on boots - I will do that the next time too.
    Last edited by Leothas; 2013-09-17 at 09:22 AM.

  3. #3
    I just got the Endless Achievement last night. Firefly over on the paladin forums has a nice guide that provides a round-by-round commentary. Obviously it's tailored for paladins, but you might find a few tips and tricks that could be applied for warriors (and other tanks as well):

    http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...-30-and-beyond

  4. #4
    Wave 47 has been my best (Shield broke T_T).

    I use Double Time / Enraged Regen / Staggering Shout / Mass Spell Reflection / Shockwave / Bloodbath. For glyphs i take Hindering Strikes / Death from Above and Heavy Repercussions.

    Wave 1 - There are only 2 mobs(One windguard and one ripper). Simply pick them up and tank them. The monk will always kill the ripper first.
    Wave 2 - AoE Pack + 2 Ambushers. I leap into the aoe pack and pop all my dps cooldowns and go to town. When bloodbath has 2 seconds remaining i use shockwave and then staggering shout and leave the pack and grab the ambusher - keeping about 30 yards distance between me and the stunned AOE pack. The pack will come over after the stun fades and ensure that you drop the stacking debuff. Pick up the next Ambusher and shockwave the mobs.
    Wave 3 - 2 fire casters and 2 rippers. I wait until the rippers come into melee of the monk and pick them up and charge the right fire caster. I then interrupt him and move all 3 mobs onto the fire. The monk will kill the other flame caster and the fire stacks a DoT + damage taken debuff on the mobs, so they die really quickly.
    Wave 4 - Small Conq and Small Windguard on the pull. Pick them up and disarm the conq. before he does his enrage. Pick up the ambusher and stun all 3.
    Wave 5 - 2 rippers and a flame caster spawn. Simply put them in the fire. Ambushers will spawn eventually and just pick them up and let the monk kill them for you.
    Wave 6 - 3 large wind guards will spawn. I pick them up with leap / thunderclap *make sure to have shieldblock up before you engage*. Once the first shield block is about to fall off use shockwave and bloodbath spread on them. Once shockwave ends use staggering shout to root them in place and move away 20-30 yards. The one being attacked by the monk will break out and chase.
    Wave 7 - Going into this wave you will have 1-2 Wind guards up aswell so i reccomend opening with shield wall before you engage this pack. Pop DPS cooldowns and aoe them. Again spread bloodbath and run away with your shockwave, once it ends use staggering shout to root them. Once that ends use your fear and dont attack them just run. Once they join you again use shockwave and continue to kite. There will be 1 ambusher in this wave, simply pick him up and kill him / add him to the AOE pack.
    Wave 8 - 1 small flame caster at first, just pick it up and move it into the fire. Then there will be ~ 4-5 ambushers that spawn over time. Simply pick them up and the monk will 4 shot them.
    Wave 9 - The final AOE Wave. Treat it the same as 7, open with shield wall, use dps cooldowns and spread bloodbath. When its 2 seconds left use shockwave, when thats about finished use staggering shout and run away. You can then either use last stand and tank them with demo shout / banner or you can just use fear and kite into a shockwave + leap away.
    Wave 10 - 1 large conq will spawn with a fire caster. Pick him up and move both into the fire and just tank them on it. The stacking debuff really helps to kill it nice and fast so you get a break between 10 and 11. A large ambusher will spawn, just pick it up with taunt and then tank it. I use cleave to apply the slow then staggering shout and move away just to lower damage taken.

    Overal tips that i probably didn't mention above :

    Stam gems really help. Same with trinkets.

    The monk will only break your CC's with single target attacks, so her constant AOE damage will not break fear / roots. Apply hindering strikes with cleave and use Staggering shout to give yourself 6 second's of no damage whever its needed. You should only need shieldwall for waves 7 and 9. A shockwave > Fear > Staggering shout > Shockwave combo is ~15-20seconds of very low damage taken. The monk is your source of damage, you only need to tank the mobs. So don't worry about your own dps to the mobs, take more care with control and avoiding damage and you will make it 30 waves NP. I could probably do 1-30 and record it tomorrow if you like.

    The thing that will kill you the most is actually tanking too much. Its everyones instincts as tanks to grab literally everything, however when you start leaving a few things here and there on the monk for a few seconds it becomes alot easier. She isn't some piece of glass that will get globald, and she does heal herself. So she is capable of tanking a few things for a few hits here and there that may save you. Learn what you can leave on her and for how long, and know your own limits - in regards to how much you can tank without risk of dieing.

    Hope this helps.
    Last edited by Styl; 2013-09-17 at 04:29 PM.

  5. #5
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Wooferoo View Post
    Now, my point of difficulty comes at around Wave 13-17, where there are simply too many mobs, and the +1% Extra Damage Dealt/Per Wave/Per Mob buff that stacks up on hostile mobs gets to be fairly noticeable around that time as well. The problem that I am having is that I don't know how to rotate through my cooldowns efficiently at this point, as well, I have all these mobs on me, and I begin to run out of CC/Mitigation cooldowns relatively quickly.

    One of the things I'm trying to work out is how many mobs to pick up in the later phases, I cant possibly tank them all at once, in an attempt I put in a couple minute ago I got to Wave 19 before it was just too much, and I went down.

    Does anyone have any thoughts? Please share your experiences and suggestions below.
    We do have a thread on this in the warrior forums, should probably look there for more tailored help.
    Personally i used double dps trinkets and normal gemming/reforging. Only changed dragonroar to shockwave, had disrupting shout and bloodbath.
    I would however recommend double stamina trinkets. and even gemming stamina if you feel the need tbh.

    The only pack i struggled with and "saved" offensive aswell as defensive was the rabbit pack that leaves a dot, even when resetting stacks that buff hurts.
    Everything else was just dps down asap and rarely had anything up when a new wave spawned. (was doing on avg 90k dps).

    @Leothas, staggering only works if they're snared first, guess you could hamstring and use it, but not very effective.
    Second wind is not enough to save you on the later waves, ER is the better choice imo.

  6. #6
    The Patient
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    Quote Originally Posted by santa666 View Post
    We do have a thread on this in the warrior forums, should probably look there for more tailored help.
    Personally i used double dps trinkets and normal gemming/reforging. Only changed dragonroar to shockwave, had disrupting shout and bloodbath.
    I would however recommend double stamina trinkets. and even gemming stamina if you feel the need tbh.

    The only pack i struggled with and "saved" offensive aswell as defensive was the rabbit pack that leaves a dot, even when resetting stacks that buff hurts.
    Everything else was just dps down asap and rarely had anything up when a new wave spawned. (was doing on avg 90k dps).

    @Leothas, staggering only works if they're snared first, guess you could hamstring and use it, but not very effective.
    Second wind is not enough to save you on the later waves, ER is the better choice imo.
    Seeing the guy reach wave 47 using that combo, I think I will try that out. but the rabbit pack is actually the easiest pack for me, they never get close because piercing howl can be applied from 15 yard range, and with charge/intervene/jump/shockwave I never died on it - always the pack 6-7 and 9 which gets hard for me. i only used offensive cd (reccklessness) when i needed the 20 % extra run speed badly.

    Actually the only times I failed was to the NPC dying on wave 19 (3 times in a row -.-) because i was beeing to focused on kiting stuff.

    But then again i have tried this like 8 times now.. need to get abit more practice with the waves.

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