Edit: Updated for rank 8
Hi Everyone.
Now that we have a good idea of what rank 8 is like, I am writing a guide for tanks to prepare for rank 8. This guide is not final as many skills can still be changed by IMC in future patches, but it should help you position yourself very well to become a Murmillo tank for rank 8.
The future of tanking in this game:
What separates tanks from high CON Wizards and Clerics? What makes us special? The answer is this: we can grab and maintain aggro easily with Swash Buckling and Provoke.
The value that tanks bring to a party falls under the following 2 points:
1. Grabbing and rounding up many enemies into a tight bunch so DPS classes can AOE them down with ease.
2. Holding aggro on bosses so DPS classes can deal damage safer with minimal movement or interruptions.
However, as damage is increased for other DPS classes in high levels, holding aggro is going to become harder and harder since Swash Buckling stays at level 15. Which leads to this conclusion:
TO MAINTAIN AGGRO EFFECTIVELY AS A TANK PAST LEVEL 280, YOU MUST BE ABLE TO DO SOME DAMAGE AS WELL.
I have ran many Siaulai missions where DPS classes with good equipment damage for around 10 seconds, then I use my Swash Buckling level 15 and I DO NOT GET AGGRO FROM THE BOSS AFTER USE. I had to run in, use Slithering + Umbro Thrust and Targe Smash, Shield Bash etc. to grab aggro from the boss. This is going to become much more common the higher we level up in this game.
The good news is that Murmillo is designed to do some damage. Even better, it boosts Peltasta and Rodeleroâs damage up considerably so we will have an easier time grabbing aggro in the future.
Note: Information about Murmillo will be updated in this guide once it becomes more available. I will also allow a few patches to get across kTOS in case of tweaks to Murmillo and other classes as well.
Ok, with this in mind, letâs get to the guide:
Class choices
Must-have classes:
- Peltasta c3 - for level 15 Swash Buckling
- Rodelero c2 - for Slithering
- Murmillo c1 - for wearing helmet to increase resistance to missle and magic attacks.
Your build will look like this:
Swordsman 1 > Peltasta 3 > Rodelero 2 > (rank 7) > Murmillo
For rank 7 you have a few options:
Rodelero 3 - Best option
Pros:
- Higher damage from max level Rodelero skills and High Kick / Shooting Star.
Cons:
- High SP cost. 2 cycles of Rodelero + Peltasta skills can drain your SP from 100% -> close to 0%.
Other less optimal choices:
Corsair c1 - for Jolly Roger ($$$) and Iron Hook (PVP support)
Doppel c1 - for Cyclone (AOE damage + status resist) and Deeds of Valor (increased damage, but increased damage taken - not good for tanks).
As of the 25/08/16 KTOS patch Murmillo will be able to use 1H Spears and Rapiers. This means Hoplite, Dragoon and Fencer can go Murmillo now
Skills
Peltasta:
Must-have skills:
- Swash Buckling Level 15 - You NEED this. There will be dungeon rooms (eg. in lv 240 dungeon) where Swash Buckling level 15 will NOT grab all enemies in the room. Level 15 holds aggro much better than Level 10 too.
- Umbro Thrust Level 1 - to break enemy defense.
- Umbo Blow (optional level) - Very good damage skill, can also stun. Try to block enemies first, then use this skill - it will hit twice with the second hit around 70% damage of the first. Greatly boosted by Murmillo.
- Butterfly Level 5 - Very good damage skill. Also boosted by Murmillo.
- High Guard - This will lower attack damage by 15% now and crit rate by -90 at level 15. Still not very good because as explained above, you need damage to hold aggro. The duration is also bad - lasts 30 seconds with 60 second cooldown. One point in this gives 150 block though, which you can consider.
- Guardian - Physical Defense increase was recently changed to 10.2% + 1.8% per skill level and physical attack reduction was changed to 2% + 0.9% per skill level (Source). The downside is really small now so you can consider maxing it if you have high physical defense in your build.
Optional skills:
- Langort - Good source of Pierce damage, can use to block and silence enemies but very hard to time.
- Rim Blow - Also greatly boosted by Murmillo skills, but damage doesnât scale as well as Umbo blow and pushes the enemy away (not good since we are trying to group enemies together)
Bad skills:
- Shield Lob - Cooldown is too long, you lose your shield defense and you need to go pick it up after use.
Rodelero:
Must-have skills:
- Slithering Level 1 - Can tank magic with this, also gives resistance against status effects. Rodeleroâs best skill.
- High Kick Level 1 - Increases strike damage, which is the majority of damage skills in your build.
- Montano Level 1 - Very good stun/disable, slows enemies for a few seconds afterwards. Damage scaling is bad though, donât go past level 1.
- Targe Smash Level 15 - Very good damage skill, good AOE attack ratio. Boosted by Murmillo.
- Shooting Star Level 5 - Very good damage skill. Boosted by Murmillo.
Optional skills:
- Shield Charge Level 1 - Can block ranged archer attacks but knocks enemies back, can use when trying to escape from too many enemies.
- Shield Bash - Good damage skill, casts very fast. Mixing stats is kind of useless for PVE, doesnât work against bosses.
- Shield Shoving - Good damage skill, lower cooldown. The turning effect doesnât last very long.
- Shield Push - Bad hitbox, effect doesnât work on bosses. (Havenât tested this skill after the âfixâ)
Stat allocation
This is hard to balance as there are 3 stats to consider.
Do NOT go full CON for the reasons stated above. You will struggle to take aggro away from the DPS classes in your party.
- Focus should still be on CON, but after a certain level (eg. 40k hp) you will need to switch to DEX to increase damage to maintain aggro.
- Edit: After thinking about stat allocation, since you wonât have many stat points left after going high CON, the rest should be allocated to DEX as the crit benefits you more when you donât have much stats to work with.
Equipment
Update - As of the 25/08/16 KTOS patch Murmillo will be able to use 1H Spears and Rapiers if you have previously taken classes that can use them
Focus should be on as much CON / magical defense / physical defense as possible, in that order.
- However, do NOT sacrifice too much physical defense for magical defense because magic attacks will still hurt even if you stack a lot of magic defense.
You have Slithering to help you tank magic. - Physical enemies will hit hard at late game and unless you hold block down, you will not be able to block all physical attacks.
- Do NOT go high DEX and rely only on evasion for tanking - it does nothing against magic enemies and at high levels you will die fast due to low HP.
Cards
- Blud Card ] Con stat +[â ].
- Nuaele Card ] Magical defense +[â ].
- Ellaganos Card ] DEX +[â ].
If I remember correctly, Blud is one of the level 330 world bosses so this card is hard to get. Best to go for Nuaele card. Ellaganos card boosts your DEX and therefore your crit, making it easier for you to hold aggro.
Tips for tanking
Finally, some tips Iâd like to share for tanking:
- When you use Slithering, if you are ccâed at the end of your 10 sec Slithering (knocked down, frozen, stunned etc.) and the hit doesnât go off, the cooldown will reset and you will have another free Slithering to use straight away. Because of this, donât use Pain Barrier before you use Slithering because you want to be knocked down for it to reset.
- Use Swash Buckling often! Many people forget to use it after the first time during boss fights and then wonder why they are losing aggro.
- When pulling monsters in a room, run to the centre of the room, use Swash Buckling then move to the side of the room a little bit (use Slithering if you must) but do NOT go all the way to the wall. The reason is this: if you pull monsters away too far from their starting point, they will run back to their starting point and reset aggro.
I will add more to this guide once more info comes out or if I think of other tips.
I will leave you with this one last advice:
To truly be a good player, you must understand what other classes (ie. Clerics, Wizards and Archers) can do as well. You must know how to get the Ausrine buff when Dievs put the statue down. You must recognise when Sages use their invincibility buff and be aggressive when itâs active. You must know when other classes use their big attack moves (eg. Meteor, Snipe/Headshot, etc.) and prepare to re-grab aggro.
Bonus video - This is what you will eventually be tanking at level 330, fun!
