Curse

khiro · Aug 23, 2007, 11:11 PM // 23:11

im having trouble finding a build and i want a good tank one. any suggestions?

MrFuzzles · Aug 24, 2007, 12:30 AM // 00:30

[skill]conviction[/skill] or [skill]avatar of balthazar[/skill] for armor. I prefer conviction for the fact that it's not elite, doesn't have to be "cast", and can be kept up 24/7 without needing an extra skill.

[skill]armor of sanctity[/skill] together with [skill]aura of thorns[/skill] OR [skill]veil of thorns[/skill] for fixed damage reduction. Unlike monk soaks like shielding hands and such, you can keep this combo up 24/7.
As for Aura of Thorns vs Veil of Thorns, personally I prefer Aura as it's much easier to be "in control" of what you're crippling, and you can cripple monsters that aren't attacking you. It's a very effective means of drawing aggro if you manage to intercept the melee monsters as they run for your party member.
[wiki]eremite's zeal[/wiki] or [wiki]meditation[/wiki] works great together with aura of thorns if you run out of energy a lot. The aoe bleed is just icing on teh caek.

[skill]mystic regeneration[/skill] for healing. There are a ton of different other options for self healing ([wiki]vital boon[/wiki] with [wiki]signet of pious light[/wiki] gives you a massive heal and let's you heal others a little), but considering you already have armor of sanctity and aura/veil of thorns up, you will get +10 health pips from mystic regen without much effort.

If you go with aura/veil of thorns, you could also bring [skill]reap impurities[/skill], though it eats energy fast. I only bring it if I *need* that extra occasional heal.

All of these skills except avatar, eremite's zeal, meditation, and reap impurities are in earth prayers, so you'll want that at at least 13, mainly for the +4 per enchant from mystic regen.

NeonXero · Aug 24, 2007, 03:45 AM // 03:45

In response to the energy issues - if you have Prophecies, I would go with Essence Bond or Balthazaar's Spirit (or both XD)

But yeah, all the skills Fuzzles listed are great for Dervish tanking. Good luck to you!

Dor Sefrith · Aug 24, 2007, 10:35 AM // 10:35

Try combination with elementalist skills such as Stoneflesh Aura, Sliver Armor, Armor of earth or other cool ele skills which can be cool in combination with Avatar of Balthazar + Eternal Aura. If you wanna something which can not be disabled by removing enchantment's use Dervish/Mesmer combination and take Phisical Resistance which gives you 40 armor and is a stance not an enchantment or finaly use 130hp dervish build which in normal mode is very good1.

MrFuzzles · Aug 24, 2007, 10:48 AM // 10:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dor Sefrith

If you wanna something which can not be disabled by removing enchantment's use Dervish/Mesmer combination and take Phisical Resistance which gives you 40 armor and is a stance not an enchantment

Rather just go with balthazar then. Physres lowers your elemental resistance and can be removed like any other stance. Avatars can't be rended/stripped/removed, and you don't want eternal aura to stay up anyway - you want it to end.

Dor Sefrith · Aug 24, 2007, 11:16 AM // 11:16

Physres is perfect in situation when you face a foe which removes your enchantement just like in the FoW, so you combine it with Avatar of Balthazar and you have +80 armor more. This is not an universal solution - only to protect you when there is an EnchantEater near, but I wrote that clearly.

MrFuzzles · Aug 24, 2007, 11:52 AM // 11:52

You can't stack armor buffs which are greater than 25.

khiro · Aug 24, 2007, 12:16 PM // 12:16

thx guys fuzzles' build was wat i was lookin for

boarderx · Aug 24, 2007, 01:34 PM // 13:34

sometimes if i need to tank with my derv i bring both armor of sanctity and stoneflesh aura, especially if there are interrupts you usually dont need both both if one gets interrupted it helps, glyph of concentration helps for that too

there are 2 tank builds i run, one is the Obsidian Tank and the other is an enchantment tank.

the Obsidian tank is this
http://www.pvxwiki.com/wiki/Build

/E_Obsidian_Dervish
or something like it, i sub stuff depending on the area

and the enchtment tank is this, it can also do some good dmg too, put atts in earth, myst, and scythe.
eternal aura
[skill]avatar of balthazar[/skill]
[skill]faithful intervention[/skill]
[skill]mystic vigor[/skill]
[skill]mystic regeneration[/skill]
[skill]vital boon[/skill]
[skill]fleeting stability[/skill]
[skill]mystic sweep[/skill]
and i might sup out things depending on the area.

i am in no way saying "use this and only this!" there are better options for different areas, so once you know the area your going into you can better set up, these are just basic builds to hopefully get you started, try different derv elites too they can be fun to toy with.

these builds arent new, im 100% sure they are somewhere on these forums, be sure to go with balthazar vs undead foes, it is FUN

if the tanking is overkill for an area, dont be afraid to swap out for some more offense