Update Log:
2016/05/30 – Forum Post Created
##Sections
- General Considerations as a Swordsman
1.1 Tanking” in Tree of Savior
1.2 THREE Key Considerations in Building the<<Shock-Tank Fencer>> - The
<<Shock-Tank Fencer>>Build
##**1. General Considerations as a Swordsman **
An ineffective swordsman stays in the backline.
Effectively, that means you are the force between the enemy and your supporting allies. In even simpler terms, every swordsman and swordswoman should not be dicking around behind the ■■■■■■■ range DPS. If your enemy gets behind you for a time-to-kill of 2 ■■■■■■■ seconds, be ready to prevent the problem of bludgeoned healers and splattered casters.
“Here.
And there.
Oh and of course… over there, too.”
So yeah. The swordsman is in every enemy’s face. Such is a requirement to “tank” or dish out ANY form of melee damage. By being there, you RISK getting damaged. Hard damage—especially magic damage. And we know that happens when that damage kills you.
“Here.
And there.
Oh and of course… over there, too.”
_
1.1 “Tanking” in Tree of Savior
I recommend reading the guide by @Cathexis. In particular, I refer to “The ‘Tanking’ Dilemma,” which is Section 4.4. In essence,
[quote=“Cathexis, post:1, topic:153860”]
There is no real “tank” role in this game. The only responsibility of a “tank” in Tree of Savior is to get and keep aggro on mobs, as well as deal as much damage as possible.
[/quote] …because…
Deducing from Cathexis’s guide, a “tank” can select the responsibility to manage the enemy position (aggroing), while others contribute damage, in the form of high DPS. A “tank” may also contribute damage, while RISKING hits from enemies that the tank aggroes. Often in ToS, a tank must forgo safety to dish-out damage for a short period of time (bursting).
Swordsman: aggro and burst.
As a result of both managing aggro and bursting damage, the swordsman class tends to have low DPS, which is measured over the course of battle. In the current state of iToS (5/30/16), Swordsmen DPS builds, even Doppelsoeldner DPS builds (the typically high physical DPS builds for swordsmen), are heavily outclassed by the DPS builds of the other classes. This initially seems fair since swordsmen have naturally 3x higher HP. Even DPS clerics have access to a large health pool and significantly outperform DPS swordsmen (as measured over the duration of the battle). In addition, the swordmen HP advantage falls off quickly in late-game content. As a result, swordsmen (invested tank or not) tend to focus on bursting damage.
Bursting damage takes aim and timing, but your spacing game and timing game learned are by experience (starter tip: use CTRL-targeting), so I’ll save the details for later. With aggroing, you have to manage the incoming damage to survive. Simple—survive or die. In ToS, your options are:
- FACETANK IT. The damage goes to your HP. Ouch. This depends on enemy attack power and type (hint! Hint!) against your resistance to that attack type.
- Trigger your Block sub-stat. This can be boosted by skills such as Guard [C], Cross Guard, Preparation, etc. This is boosted by 1 Block per 1 CON (when using a shield).
- Trigger your Evasion sub-stat. This can be boosted by skills such as Guardian, Lunge, etc. This is boosted by 1 Evasion per 1 DEX.
- (Least obvious) RUN…or walk—or even jump. Every attack, whether friendly or not, has a range. Getting out of attack range means that the enemy can’t do damage to you (duh!). Taking it a step further (haha puns.), utilizing mobility to manage aggro is often referred to as kiting.
_
1.2 THREE Key Considerations in Building the <<Shock-Tank Fencer>>
Let’s set up THREE key points:
-
Incoming magic damage does not crit.
-
Magic damage comes from the opponent’s INT and is reduced by our SPR.
-
Incoming magic damage cannot be “checked”/RNGesus’d by the Evasion sub-stat, under DEX, nor can magic trigger the Block sub-stat, under CON (with a shield).
As you can see, common enemy of any swordsman build (PvP/PvE) is the lack of tools to face a magic-user. From point #3, DEX builds cannot prevent magic damage. DEX and CON cannot mitigate damage. You see, CON just makes you—a squishy—into a just a slightly BIGGER squishy since you can take more hits, but those hits still DO THE SAME DAMAGE.
Mitigating magic damage (and preventing physical damage) is goal of this <<Shock-Tank Fencer>> build. With this build, I hope to generate discussion and (hopefully!) other swordsman builds that are resilient to magic-sourced damage.
(Oh, and (selfishly) using any sword in the meanwhile.)
##**2. The <<Shock-Tank Fencer>> Build **
■■■■ damnit. I read too many more posts about people quitting as I was about to write more.
@TeamChespin has a seemingly well-reasoned reflection on his time investement. He used a support build: cryo3, chrono1 &working on chrono3. He says that DPS-classes dominate the end-game. Here is the link.
The current DPS end-game route (as of 5/30/16) seems to be something that swordsman classes tend to lack, LEADING to very limited DPS builds with Doppelsoeldner.
My comment about DPS end-game and Doppelsoeldner C2 coincide with the experiences of @azwraith & responses from Cathexis. Here is azwraith’s post:
Sparing you of reading poorly-opinionated comment-reading, here is Cathexis’s response:
And [here is azwraith’s update] ((Personal Experience) About the viability of Swordsman classes late game in PvE and/or PvP) as a…
#_
Here was my proposed build, using sword1>>pelt1>>barb2>>highlander1>>fencer2 (preferred)
Oh right, stat points ==> 1 CON: 2/3 DEX or something.
An adjusted one for Burst: using Doppel sword1>>pelt1>>barb2>>highlander1>>fencer1>>doppel1
Oh right, stat points ==> 1 CON: 2/3 DEX or something.
Feel free to discuss.
#_
I quit.