Revelation Online – Vanguard Class Guide – Stats, Skills, Basics [ENG]
(This Guide is no longer supported, and will not be updated)
1. Intro
The purpose of this Guide is to cover most important aspects of tanking,
explaining everything about the basics you need to know and understand,
in order to become a great Tank.
This Guide will not go too deep into detail about Stat-/Skill-Specs, proper gemming or anything else,
but will provide several recommendations.
It will still be your own job to make best out of it, and improve your Skill by experience and knowledge.
The Vanguard-Class is the standard (Main-) Tank, but also foremost Melee-Class in Revelation.
Vanguards are Leaders and valiant Protectors on the Battelfield, because of their impressive array of defensive abilities.
They have extreme survival abilities and control skills to endure damage or give their teammates opportunities to attack, defend a foothold.
Also it has a decent damage mitigation due to its AoE-Abilities.
Class Role:
• Primary: Main Tank
• Secondary: Off-DPS
Combat Style:
• Melee – physical combat.
Difficulty:
Battle tactics and combat rotations are kind of intuitive
Class Advantages:
• heavy defense
• Leader-Class (PvX)
• can easily endure long Fights
Class Disadvantages:
• weaker Attack-Power than other Classes
• Close Combat
Team Position:
A formidable tank, protected by an enormous shield, the Vanguard leads the charge and protects teammates.
Main Weapon: Spear/Halbert
Secondary Weapon: Shield
Total Rating: | |
Solo Duel | ★★★★ |
Team Co-op | ★★★★★ |
Levelling Speed | ★★★ |
Difficulty | ★★ |
source: my.com |
I personally would say, that Vanguard deserves a higher Difficulty Level than the offcial 2 Stars
2. Statuspoints
The Vanguard has two Primary-Stats and one Secondary-Stat, which are:
(Please keep in mind, that following Stats are just Suggestions,
you will have to adapt them depending on your Bonus-Stats and Gear!)
- Main/Primary-Stats:
Vigor (CN = Constitution) |
Vigor is the Main source of additional HP and Phys-Def. So we want to have lots of it! |
Spirit (CN = Spirit) |
Spirit will give us Magic-Def. and HP aswell. Depending on Bonus- and Gear-Stats, you might want to have few more Points on Spirit, to compansate the gap between Phys.- and Magic-Def. |
- Secondary:
Strength (CN = Power) |
Strength: I would recommend using at least 100 Points on Strength, for overall DPS aswell as for Aggro. |
- Example:
Stat-Overview NA | Stat-Overview CN |
Level 49 | Level 59 |
- Stat-Ratio: every 4 Spirit -> 3 Vigor -> 1 Strength (Example)
2.1 Stat-Builds
Following Builds are just used to be examples!
Bonus Stats are included, in those Builds! (Basic+Bonus)
You need to adjust it yourself, depending on Gear/Level and Knowledge.
2.1.1 Full-Tank
Lv 49 | Lv 59 | Lv 69 | |||
Strength | 50-100 | 80-120 | 100-150 | ||
Spirit | 130-170 | 180-220 | 200-250+ | ||
Intelligence | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
Dexterity | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
Vigor | 110-150 | 170-210 | 200-240+ |
Preferribly go for higher Tank-Stats (Vigor and Spirit)
2.1.2 Hybrid
Lv 49 | Lv 59 | Lv 69 | |||
Strength | 100-150 | 150-200 | 180-230 | ||
Spirit | 80-130 | 150-170 | 170-200 | ||
Intelligence | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
Dexterity | 40-60 | 60-80 | 80-100 | ||
Vigor | 80-110 | 120-150 | 150-170 |
You can adjust the Dex. for Crit and use more points on Strength,
or Tank-Stats instead (depending in Gear)
Sidenote:
Please keep in mind, that the Hybrid-Build is supposed to be for experienced Players,
that already have a moderate Knowledge about the Class, and know how to handle it.
This Build can be very difficult and also expensive, at the endgame content.
2.1.3 DPS
Lv 49 | Lv 59 | Lv 69 | |||
Strength | 100-150 | 150-240 | 230-300 | ||
Spirit | 50-80 | 80-100 | 100-120 | ||
Intelligence | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
Dexterity | 80-90 | 90-100 | 100-120 | ||
Vigor | 40-70 | 70-90 | 90-110 |
You can adjust stats and try to go for more Crit/Strength, depending on Gear
3. Skills
Theres different Types of Skills, so i split them up in following Groups: Passive / Normal / Combo / Aerial
Shorties:
– AoE = “Area of Effect”
– DoT = “Damage over Time”
– Tyrant = CC-Immunity
3.1 Passive-Skills
To unlock your Passive-Skills, you will have to meet following requirements:
The first Passive, will automaticly be unlocked.
2nd: Requires to unlock 30 Talent Points (Arcane Arts)
3rd: Requires 60 unlocked Talent Points
4th: Rquires 90 unlocked Talent Points
Icon | Name NA | Name CN | Description |
Name N/A | Dragon Power |
|
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Name N/A | Angry Roar |
|
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Name N/A | Body Strenghthening |
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3.2 Normal / Damage Skills
Icon | NA Name | CN Name | Description |
Heroic Strike | Slam | LMB-Skill (Action-Mode) Basic Attack – regular auto attack. Filler for Skill-Rotations (Animation can be cancled) |
|
Tornado Sweep | (R)aids | RMB-Skill (Action-Mode) Area of Effect Skill adds Bleeding Effect to Target for 6 sec. very Important Skill for Overall DPS, used in all of our Rotations (its a must) Can be used during a Jump or in the Air. (used for Ani-Cancle) |
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Broken Array | Destroy | Will be interresting, after unlocking Arcane Arts (49+) (Animation can be cancled) Quote: “one hit wonder” – MrJao |
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Conqueror´s Sweep | Rotary Cut | 2-Stage Skill 1st Stage: Fan-shaped AoE-Knockdown (3 sec.) 2nd Stage: Fan-shaped AoE, decent DPS Part of our Rotations (Animation can be cancled) |
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Crippling Bolt | Dingjun | Line-Shaped AoE DoT The Crack is a very large Threat gain second highest DPS-skill (important) Part of our Rotations |
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Heroic Leap | Come to earth | Ranged Charge (leap) > AoE-Knockdown standard charge + Knockdown. |
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Benetnash | Gang member | Stance-Skill Can switch between Stances (Damage/Normal/Defense-Stance) Skill Active: Defense-Stance (grants additional Aggro (50%), Phys. and Magic-Def., reduces Movementspeed) Skill Inactive: Normal-StanceDamage-Stance: Requires unlocked Arcane Arts |
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Dragongrip | Long grip | Single-Target Pull (15m Range) Interrupts targets casting (Important for PvP or Boss-Mechanics in Dungeons) |
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Vanguard´s Blessing | Jagged | AoE- / Party-Buff Increases Health of Caster/Teammates and incoming Healing by certain Amount |
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Wyrmweed | Xiao Tian | CC-Break (IMPORTANT) Control Immunity for certain Amount of Time (You want to have low/reduced Cooldown on this Skill, especially for PvP) |
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Light Shield | Light Shield | Absorbs damage for 3 seconds 2 Stage-Skill 1st Stage: Summons Shield on Caster 2nd Stage: Releases Damage in front of Caster Second Stage will release after certain Amount of Time, or by activating Skill again (used to absorb Damage) |
|
No Fear | Fearless | Fearless has 3 different uses depending on your Stance Def-Stance: Damage decreased by 50% and Defence increased by 50% Normal-Stance: Damage increased by 20% and defence increased by 20% DPS-Stance: Damage increased by 50% and defence decreased by 50% (Effects can also be adjusted with Arcane Arts) |
3.3 Combo-Skills
Combo-kills are your F1-F6 skills.
They are splitted up in two Paths: Damage (Heavens Wrath) and Defense (God´s Blessing)
You can only have 3 out of 4 abilities active at the same time, for each Path.
The resource for Heavens Wrath-Skills are generated by your Damage Abilities
and your God´s Blessing Resources are generated by the Amount of taken Damage.
Heavens Wrath |
God´s Blessing |
-
3.3.1 Heavens Wrath
Icon | Name NA | Name CN | Description |
Sundering Steel | Lei Fei – Break | Shield throwing ability that deals lots of Damage. It can double the Damage, if Targets HP is below a certain Amount (%). |
|
Relentless Hurricane | Yan Lei – turn | Channels a 30 Second Spin-To-Win Skill. Grants CC-Immunity (very interesting for PvP). Can be canceled by jumping or dashing. |
|
Blazing Charge | Ponley – Punching | Charge-Skill, which charges straight forward (facing direction). Can Kock-Back and Kock-Down enemies inside Charge-Range. |
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Smite | Raytheon – One | Massive Area of Effect Knock-Down. Multiple Knock-Downs in a row, to Enemies inside the AoE-Radius. Requires quite huge Amount of Resource. Pretty high Damage Output (Burst). |
-
3.3.2 Gods Blessing
Icon | Name NA | Name CN | Description |
Thunder Strike | Thunder Shake | AoE-Knockdown with decent Damage. It has a short radius, but can be very effective, if you use it wisely. |
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Holy Vortex | Capture | Massive AoE-Pull. Moderate Damage. The Range is a bigger than it’s visual Effect. |
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Indomitable Will | Gang member | Area of Effect Buff / Party-CC-Break Can be used as Taunt-Skill, while being in Def.-Stance. Party Buff, to dispell CCs and harmful Debuffs, from Caster and Teammates, inside the Range of the AoE-Radius |
|
Shield Storm | Absolute Guardian | Great Damage mitigation Skill. Reduces incoming damage by 50%, but also deals little Damage to surrounding Enemies. |
3.3.3 Combo Skill Tree Basics
1. Roads / 2. Effect / 3. Orbs and Progress / 4. Upgrade costs
Roads are used to add additional Effects to your Combo-Skills.
In order to add a Road to your selected Combo-Skill,
you have to gain 1000 points on a Road first, to unlock it. (1.)
To Learn a specific Road, you will have to chose and confirm it, (2.)
by clicking on the “Learn” button.
Before the chosen Effect will be added, (3.)
you will have to offer a specific Amount of Daos.
The amount and quality of required Dao´s can vary,
depending on Skill-Grade (1/2/3 Star) and the Road-Level (4.)
If you dont have enough Daos at a time,
you can store them on the Skill(listed on top),
untill you have the required Amount of Daos stored/offered.
3.3.3.1 Roads
Way of the Flames | |
Way of the Mountain | |
Way of the Wind | |
Way of the Woods |
3.3.3.2 Dao´s
Sidus Dao | |
Demonic Daoist Star | |
Devine Phantom Daoist Star |
3.3.4 Road-Effects
- Sundering Steel
Increases Skill-Damage by 4% / 9% / 16% / 24% / 33% | ||
Skill resource is reduced by 4% / 9% / 16% / 26% / 33% | ||
Cooldown is reduced by 4% / 9% / 16% / 26% / 33% | ||
When Targets HP is below 16% / 24% / 34% / 46% / 60%, Damage increases by 50% |
- Relentless Hurricane
Increases Skill-Damage by 3% / 7% / 12% / 18% / 25% | ||
Life-Steal increases by 2% / 4% / 6% / 8% / 10% | ||
Cooldown is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Skill duration is decreased by 10s / 20s / 25s / 25s / 25s , but Damage increased by 18% / 72% / 115% / 126% / 140% |
- Blazing Charge
Increases Skill-Damage by 4% / 10% / 18% / 27% / 38% | ||
Skill resource is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Cooldown is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Increases Knockdown duration on enemies by 0,2s / 0,4s / 0,7s / 1,1s / 1,5 |
- Smite
Increases Skill-Damage by 3% / 8% / 14% / 21% / 29% | ||
Skill resource is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Cooldown is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Increases Knockdown duration on enemies by 0,2s / 0,6s / 1s / 1,4s / 2s |
- Thunder Strike
Increases Skill-Damage by 7% / 16% / 28% / 42% / 58% | ||
Skill resource is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Cooldown is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Reduces enemies Physical Defense by 5% / 5% / 5% / 6% / 10%, last 3s / 5s / 8s / 10s / 10s |
- Holy Vortex
Increases Skill-Damage by 5% / 12% / 21% / 32% / 45% | ||
Skill resource is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Cooldown is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Reduces enemies Physical and Magic-Damage by 5% / 8% / 10% / 14% / 20%, lasts 6s / 6s / 8s / 10s / 10s |
- Indomitable Will
Increases Phys. and Magic-Damage by 6% / 14% / 24% / 36% / 50% | ||
Skill resource is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Cooldown is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Increase damage reduction by 6% / 14% / 24% / 36% / 50% |
- Shield Storm
Increases Damage reduction by 1,5% / 4% / 7% / 11% / 15% | ||
Skill resource is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Cooldown is reduced by 6% / 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% | ||
Increases Skill-Damage by 9% / 21% / 36% / 54% / 75% |
3.3.5 Road-Recommendation
I recently edited this Tab, and added Tank- and DPS-specific reccommendations.
⦁ Sundering Steel:
Tank and DPS | |
to increase Damage | |
to activate the Increased Damage-Effect, when the HP of the Target is low (certain percentage of HP). |
⦁ Relentless Hurricane:
Tank | |
to increase Skill-Damage | |
to add an Life-Steal Effect | |
DPS | |
to increase Skill-Damage | |
to reduce Cooldown |
⦁ Blazing Charge:
Tank | |
or | to increase Damage |
to increase the Knockdown duration. | |
DPS | |
to increase Damage | |
Will decrease Resource costs |
⦁ Smite:
Tank | |
to increase Damage | |
to increase the Knockdown duration in between Knockdowns | |
DPS | |
to increase Damage | |
Will decrease Resource costs |
⦁ Thunder Strike:
Tank | |
to reduce Cooldown | |
to lower Defense of surrounding enemies by certain Percentage | |
DPS | |
to increase Damage | |
to reduce Cooldown |
⦁ Holy Vortex:
Tank | |
to reduce Cooldown | |
to reduce the Damage (%) of Enemies, for a certain amount of Time |
|
DPS | |
to increase Damage | |
to reduce Cooldown |
⦁ Indomitable Will:
Tank | |
to reduce Cooldown | |
to reduce the Damage of surrounding Enemies | |
DPS | |
to increase Damage | |
to reduce Cooldown |
⦁ Shield Storm:
Tank | |
to increase Damage reduction | |
or | to reduce Cooldown or to increase Damage |
DPS | |
to increase Damage reduction | |
to reduce Cooldown |
3.4 Aerial-Skills
Aerial Skills can be used while flying (Wings activated).
That will make you able to attack Targets from or in the Air.
Icon | Name NA | Name CN | Description |
Heroic Strike – Aerial | Flying Slam | Damage in front of player
Radius: 5 |
|
Sundering Steel – Aerial | Flying – Break | Damage to enemy target
Range: 30 |
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Conqueror´s Sweep – Aerial | Flying Rotary Cut | Damage in front of player
Radius: 2×5 |
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Dragongrip – Aerial | Flying Long grip | Pulls enemy target
Range: 30 |
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Holy Vortex – Aerial | Flying Capture | Pull surrounding enemies
Radius: 10 |
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Wyrmweed – Aerial | Flying Xiao Tian | Frees from control effects and increases movement speed
Cooldown: 11 |
3.5 Arcane Arts / Talent Points
Arcane Arts are additional/optional Talents, which can change or add Effects to your normal Skills.
You can find them, by pressing “K” to open the Skill-Overview.
Click on the Blue Bubble, at the Bottom, to open the Arcane Arts-Tab.
In there you can add/adjust Effects of your Damage (Normal) Skills.
3.5.1 Unlocking Arcane Arts
Theres two ways to unlock Arcane Arts:
– buying Skill-Books off the Auction/NPC etc
– dropping them in GrandBulwark Reverse (Intermediate Books)
or in Machinarium Reverse (Advanced Books)
In the following Steps, i will describe where and how to buy the Books:
3.5.2 Talent Overview
Effects and priority Rating:
The Effects will be splitted into four different Priorities:unimportant/bad,
okay, good, very good,
excellent/mandatory
(Color coding similar to ingame Ratings, which means: worst = Grey > Green
> Blue > Purple > Gold = best )
3.5.3 Description and Recommendation
Heroic Strike | ||
Beginner Path 2 |
– Increase gain of Resource by 10%/20%/30% | – okay |
Beginner Path 1 |
– 20%/40% chance to decreases Target physical Defense by 2.5% for 5 seconds | – good |
Intermediate Path 3 |
– Increases Physical defense debuff by 1/3/5 seconds | – good |
Advanced Path 3 |
– Physical Defense debuff can stack 2/3/4 times | – very good |
Advanced 2 Path 3 |
– Physical Def. debuff has a 60%/80%/100% chance to proc while target is bleeding | – good |
Tornado Sweep | ||
Beginner Path 1 |
– Increased Bleed duration to 8/10 seconds | – okay |
Intermediate Path 1 |
– Bleed can stack 3/4/5 times | – very good |
Beginner Path 3 |
– 2% Armor buff that last 6/8/10 seconds | – good |
Intermidate Path 3 |
– Armor buff stacks 2/3/4 times | – excellent/mandatory |
Broken Array | ||
Beginner Path 3 |
– 20%/40%/60% chance to slow target by 50% for 2 seconds | – unimportant/bad |
Intermediate Path 3 |
– Increases Cast-Time by 0.5/1 seconds, but increases damage by 15%/20% and adds an additional Attack debuff by 15%/20% |
– good |
Beginner 2 Path 3 |
– Increased damage by 10%/20%/30%, but removes knock back(1 point wonder) |
– excellent/mandatory |
Quote: “one hit wonder” – MrJao |
Conqueror´s Sweep | ||
– unimportant/bad | – no recommendation, leave this Skill as it is |
Crippling Bolt | ||
Beginner Path 1 |
– Increase Combo Recource gain by 10%/20%/30% | – unimportant/bad |
Intermediate Path 1 |
– Decrease Cool Down by 7%/14%/20% | – very good |
Advanced Path 1 |
– Decrease cast time to 0.5 seconds | – very good |
Beginner Path 3 |
– Aoe DoT damage increased by 15%/30%/50% | – good |
Intermidate Path 3 |
– Increases AoE duration by 1/2/3 seconds | – excellent/mandatory |
Intermidate 2 Path 3 |
– Increases AoE-DoT Damage to Monsters by 25%/50% | – okay |
Advanced 2 Path 3 |
– Any Damage dealt to Enemies in the AoE is increased by 4%/8%/12% | – excellent/mandatory |
Heroic Leap | ||
Beginner Path 3 |
– Using this skill on a Target in “Tyrant” status (Immune to CC), will increase dealt Damage by 50%/100%/150% and accumulate lots of Aggro |
– good |
Benetnash | Both, Def- and Damage-Stance can be very useful! | |
Beginner Path 1 |
– Physical Attack increases by 5%/10%/15% in “Damage Stance” Threat generation reduces by 50% Damage dealt on Bosses will increase |
– excellent/mandatory |
Intermediate Path 1 |
– Critical Damage increases by 5%/10%/15% “Damage Stance” | – excellent/mandatory |
Beginner Path 3 |
– Lowers Movement Speed reduction to 30%/15%/0% | – excellent/mandatory |
Intermediate Path 3 |
– Increases Physical and Magic Defense gained from Benetnash by 15%/30%/45% | – excellent/mandatory |
Dragongrip | ||
Beginner Path 3 |
– Taunt target with 50%/100% success for 5 seconds | – excellent/mandatory |
Vanguard´s Blessing | ||
Beginner Path 1 |
– Increase max HP Buff by 10%/20%/30% | – good |
Beginner Path 3 |
– Increase max HP Buff by 10%/20%/30% | – good |
Intermediate 2 Path 3 |
– Increase incoming Heal Effect to 25%/30% | – excellent/mandatory |
Wyrmweed | ||
Beginner Path 1 |
– During “Tyrant state” Movement Speed will be increased by 15%/30%/45% | – very good |
Intermediate Path 1 |
– Duration of “Tyrant state” (CC-Immunity) will be increased by 0.5/1/2 seconds | – very good |
Advanced Path 1 |
– In “Tyrant state” (CC Immunity) when a crit is landed, Cool Cown of Wyrmweed will get reduced by 1/3/5 seconds, but can only trigger every 3 seconds |
– good |
Beginner Path 2 |
– Increase Combo Resource gain by 10%/20%/30% | – unimportant/bad |
Intermediate Path 2 |
– Cool Down will Decrease by 7%/14%/20% | – very good |
Beginner Path 3 |
– In “Tyrant state” incoming Physical and Magic Damage will decrease by 5%/10%/15% | – very good |
Light Shield | ||
Beginner Path 3 |
– Shield (Absorbtion) Amount will be increased by 15%/30% | – very good |
No Fear | ||
Beginner Path 1 |
– In “Damage Stance” critical Damage increases by 10%/20%/30% | – very good |
Beginner Path 3 |
– Crit resistance will be increased by 15%/25%/40% while No Fear is active | – good |
Intermediate Path 3 |
– In “Tank Stance” incoming healing increases by 15% | – okay |
4. Aggro and Threat
This section will cover most important Infos about generating,
maintaining/accumulating and regaining Aggro.
4.1 Threat and Aggro
Generating Threat and maintaining Aggro are two very important characteristics of a Tank.
Understanding these and their difference, is very important for your overall performance as a Tank.
4.1.1 Threat
Threat is a means to determine the the amount of hostility bewtween a mob and the player.
Each mob has a threat table, and every person who performs amount of hostility actions will be put on that table.
Thread can either be generated by dealing Damage or by Healing.
Usually, Threat gets generated by a 1:1 ratio with damage done to the mob, and a 1:2 ratio with healing done.
Also Tanks usually generate way more Threat than Healers, due to their DPS.
Threat normally does´t decrease over time or otherwise, unless their is a mechanic to lower or vanish it.
Last but not least, your Threat will reset if you die, or leave the battle (for example: Disconnect).
4.1.2 Aggro
Having aggro means having the highest amount of threat against a mob, and that mob attacks them because of it.
Thats what Tank should aim for.
Important fact, theres Situations where you dont want to have Aggro of certain Mobs.
For example: Special Boss mechanics in Raids, which require a second Tank or other Teammates to gather Mobs at a different place.
Also important to know, is that you dont just get “Aggro” by simply overtaking Threat on the Mob/Boss.
It will require you to keep increasing the Threat continuously, to be able to hold the Aggro.
Especially if you have DPS-Classes with higher level or better Gear in your party.
4.2 Ability Rotations
Tanks need to have Rotations, just like DPS-Classes.
Instead of the Gameplay of DPS-Classes, Tanks have to use their Rotations mainly to generate Threat,
and Resources for their Combos to be able to hold the Aggro.
We will go further into Rotations later on.
I will devide Abilities for Vanguards in three Categories:
– Damaging and Threat-Generating Skills
– Damage mitigation abilities (survivability)
– Others: like Buffs/Debuffs, Taunt, CC, etc.
4.3 Initial Aggro
As Main-Tank its your job to start encounters, whether in PvP or PvP.
That means, you will have to Charge/Pull the Bosses/Mobs in Dungeons.
Always make sure you let your Team know, if youre ready or not.
This should give you the opportunity to gain the initial Aggro.
Make sure to always use your Defense-Stance (Benetnash) to generate Threat from the very beginning
Also i would recommend using Heroic Leap as your “Main-Charge”.
Even if theres other ways, to get the initial Aggro, this will be the safest way to initiate.
As a Tank it is really important to (perfectly) know your Skills and their Effects,
especially those which can generate lots of Threat.
To be able to initiate your Fights with Skills that will generate lots of Threat.
Be prepared to use your Taunt abilities (example: Indomitable Will), in case you lose Aggro.
Make sure to save them, for the “worst case” (losing Aggro), to regain it as fast as possible.
4.3.1 Adds
There will be Situations where you have to pull single or few Mobs (Adds), during a Fight (Dungeins, Raids).
These Situations require you to use your Pulls, or other ranged Attacks to generate Threat on the Adds.
You should always be aware of this Situation, and have some sort of a backup plan for it.
Which generally means, try to not have all ranged Skills or Pulls on Cooldown at the same time.
(Be proactive)
Also and even more important:
Keep an close eye on your Livesavers (aka Healers)
They will generate Threat on Adds, with their Heals, if you dont react fast enough
Try to always stay in good Position to your Healer!
4.4 Maintaining Aggro
There will be Times when holding Agrro can become very Difficult, just as mentioned before.
Being Outgeared, Outleveled or even switching off Targets, can be such reasons.
Thats why its so important to know your Skills, Effects and their priority perfectly!
Proper knowledge of your Skills will, in most cases, guarantee that you do not lose aggro.
Important Skills to Maintain Aggro:
- Benetnash (Defense Stance and Arcane Arts – Beginner Path 3)
- Heroic Leap (including Arcane Arts – Beginner Path 3)
- Crippling Bolt (awesome AoE – pretty nice DMG)
- Holy Vortex (Nice DMG + Taunt)
- Indomitable Will (adds Taunt-Effect on active Defense-Stance)
- Dragongrip (not necessary; Arcane Arts – Beginner Path 3)
In case you lack too much Experience,DPS, or whatever makes your Threat suffer,
you can use Dragongrip (Arcane Arts) as additional Threat Skill, but this is not necessary!
In case you have Issues to keep up the Aggro,
try to use Skills like Holy Vortex or Indomitable Will as often as possible!
Those Skills arent just good fillers,
they also deal some decent DPS aswell as they have a Taunt Effect,
which makes them very valuable, especially in Dungeons
Important: Indomitable Will only get its Taunt effect during active Defense-Stance (Benetnash)
Also i would recommend using Smite, as long as the Situation allows it.
Smite is a great burst (AoE) DPS-Skill (also Knockdown), and can Deal a great Amount of Damage in really short Time.
But it also has a moderate Animation-Time, so you shouldnt use it in Situations where it could cost your life.
4.5 Regaining Aggro
Theres Situations, when you will need to regain your Aggro.
For example by dieing (worst case) or unintentionally by getting Out-DPSed.
Such situations can happen, especially when youre new to the Game or the Tank-Role at all
Therefor we have Taunts, like Indomitable Will.
Make use of your Taunt Skills, when the Sitation requires it.
For Targeting in general, i would Recommend using the “Action-Mode”, and likewise Tab-Targetting.
You can either switch through the Mobs, by hovering over them with the crosshair,
or lock a certain Mob/Boss, by hitting Tab a second time.
This will ensure a secure Targetting while a Fight is in progress, which is also good for PvP
5. Rotations / Skill-Priority
Rotations are very important for our Overall DPS and Aggro.
We always want to improve our Rotations, and optimize them as much as we can.
(and in case you do, let me know ;P)
But to do that, we need to know some Basics like:
Main-Skills, Filler, and how to Cancel Animations
Please keep in mind, that following Examples are just Suggestions and not final, neither are they the one perfect Solution.
5.1 Rotation Basics
The Basics are devided into three different Branches:
- Main Skills
- Filler
- Animation Canceling
Also you should know, that there is a bunch of Skills that can actually be Ani-Canceled,
which we will use to have a decent Rotation, aswell as to optimize our DPS.
In my personal Opinion i would recommend to use the Combo Skills as Fillers,
and not as Part of the Main-Rotation.
For the Rotations itself i would recommend focusing on Animation-Canceling.
5.1.1 Main Skills
- Tornado Sweep
- Conqueror´s Sweep
- Crippling Bolt
- Broken Array
- Dragongrip
- Sundering Steel
5.1.2 Filler Skills
Combo Skills will be Fillers for our Rotations.
Because we cant Maintain our DPS with Skills,
which we dont want to Ani-Cancel, even if they deal high Damage.
You should still try to use them as often as possible (for example Smite, as Burst).
Make sure to use them properly.
Don´t Spam Combo-Skills one after another,
this will cost you too much time and make you lack DPS-Output.
Following Skills will be our Rotation-Fillers
(doesnt make them less important!)
- Heroic Strike
- Smite
- Holy Vortex
- Indomitable Will
- Light Shield
In case you have too many Skills on Cooldown,
you can always use Light Shield (requires active Benetnash),
and Heroic Strike as Fillers to deal Damage, while waiting for CD´s to go off.
(Decent Damage is better than no Damage)
Sidenote: Also the channeling/Animation for Light-Shield can be cancled.
5.1.3 Animation Canceling
To optimize and fulfill our Rotations,
we need to know (or learn) how to cancel Animations.
As said above, we will use Animation-Cenceling to Maintain and increase our DPS.
So let me show you, how Ani-Cancel does work in Revelation.
Theres different ways, to cancel Animations of a Skill.
Some Animations will simply get canceld by activating another Skill immediately after,
others will require you to Jump (Spacebar), or one of both.
heres a few Examples:
- Heroic Strike (Filler)
You can Ani-Cancle your Heroic Strike with literally every Skill you cast immediately after.
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- Conqueror´s Sweep
This Skill does have two Stages, which can be Ani-Canceled.
First Stage: You can simply Cancel the Animation of the first Stage by using another Skill immediately after activating it.
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Second Stage: you will have to Jump (Space Bar) after activating the second Stage.
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As Example: (both Stages together)
> | > | > | > | |||||
Stage 1 | Cancle | Stage 2 | Jump (Spacebar) | Tornado Sweep |
- Broken Array
The Animation of this SKill can be cancled by activating it right after another Skill, for example: Heroic Strike
It will cancle the Channel-Time and hit the Target very fast, compared to the usual Cast-Animation.
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- Light Shield (Filler)
You can simply Ani-Cancel Light Shield by using Heroic Strike
(which is also the only skill you can use during active Light Shield)
This Ani-Cancel will save you lots of Time,
without it would take at least double the Time to use it for DPS.
> | > | > | > | |||||
Cancle | Stage 1 | Filler | Release | Cancle |
5.2 Example Rotations
Following Rotations will just be Examples!
I will not recommend only relying on those Examples.
They are suggestions, and not the “perfect one and only way”.
A Rotation could look like this:
Crippling Bolt > Combo Skill (Holy Vortex/ Idomitable Will/ Smite) > Tornado Sweep > Broken Array >
Sundering Steel > Heroic Strike > Tornado Sweep > Conqueror´s Sweep 1 > Conqueror´s Sweep 2 >
Cancle (Jump) > Dragongrip > Tornado Sweep > Heroic Strike (Filler)
5.2.1 Basic Rotation:
> | > | > | > | > | ||||||
Initiator | Stage 1 | Cancel Stage 1 | Cancel Stage 2 | Jump to Cancel | DPS |
5.2.2 Extended Rotation
Shorties: S1 = Stage 1, S2 = Stage 2
Heroic Strike > Conq. Sweep S1 > Crippling Bolt > Conq. Sweep S2 > Tornado Sweep > Heroic Strike > Broken Array >
> Heroic Strike > Sundering Steel > Tornado Sweep > Heroic Strike > Dragongrip > Heroic Strike > Tornado Sweep
> | > | > | > | > | > | > | > | > | > | > | > | > | ||||||||||||||
HS | CS 1 | CB | CS 2 | TS | HS | BA | HS | SS | TS | HS | DG | HS | TS |