Curse

Skyros · May 16, 2007, 02:18 AM // 02:18

I've been Searing Flames nuking in DoA for some time now. it's pretty fun but I'm getting a lil bored of button mashing.

I was looking for a general tanking build / guide for DoA E/x (dervish and ranger are pretty popular from what I've seen).

I haven't tried DoA Ele tanking but I've got a basic idea of the build (E/R)

1) armor of earth
2) stoneflesh aura
3) Obsidian Flesh
4) Glyph of concentration
5) Serpent's quickness
6) Ward of Foes
7) Ward of Stability
8) [util slot]

If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.

Francis Crawford · May 16, 2007, 07:07 PM // 19:07

I don't see the energy in that build w/o Storm Chaser.

Maybe even the Stone Striker/Storm Chaser combo.

Francis Crawford · May 16, 2007, 07:09 PM // 19:09

By the way, I've never been to DOA. What IS the standard SF build?

SF
GG
Fire Attunement
GoLE
Lightbringer's Gaze
Rez Chant
Glyph of Sacrifice
MS

is the first try that comes to mind, if I want to please people's preconceived notions.

Ensign · May 16, 2007, 09:16 PM // 21:16

Standard Obs. Flesh tank

Obsidian Flesh
Stoneflesh Aura
Armor of Earth
Glyph of Concentration
Ward Against Foes
Mystic Regeneration
Conviction
Fleeting Stability

12+3+1 Earth Magic
8+1 Energy Storage
10 Earth Prayers

Standard Searing Flames

Searing Flames
Glowing Gaze
Fire Attunement
Meteor Shower
Glyph of Sacrifice
Resurrection Chant
Convert Hexes
Lightbringer's Gaze

12+3+1 Fire Magic
12+1 Energy Storage
3 Healing Prayers

The tank gets a Balthazar's Spirit from the bonder. Searing Flames Eles get Bipped frequently.

tenshi_strife · May 16, 2007, 10:44 PM // 22:44

ok you want best tank ever for like many a area

[skill]stone striker[/skill][skill]stoneflesh aura[/skill][skill]armor of earth[/skill][skill]mantra of earth[/skill][skill]aura of restoration[/skill]

with 16 in earth and 3 in energy storage and 12 to play with.

ok the 3 reamaining slots are filled diff depending on what your fighting,

casters without strippers *IE: the dragon moss outside saint w/e shrine*

[skill]mark of rodgort[/skill][skill]searing flames[/skill][skill]arcane echo[/skill]

this is easy to figure out you arcane echo the sf and mark em and spam like hell

for fighting casters that strip you add

[skill]obsidian flesh[/skill] and w/e dmg you want

also if what your fighting does a lil too much damage you do this

[skill]kinetic armor[/skill][skill]stone daggers[/skill][skill]shockwave[/skill]

and put those 12 atts in insperation magic, no the damage it really crippled with this version so you kinda have to fight non monk groups, for monk groups bring [skill]gale[/skill] instead of [skill]stone daggers[/skill] to keep monks down and keep kinetic up with [skill]aura of restoration[/skill]

well thats my basic tank and i have farmed doa with it *but holy shit is it hard* so yea

Edit: ok i just noticed that the armor of earth image is the kinetic armor image...... can you say biff up lol

Francis Crawford · May 17, 2007, 01:18 AM // 01:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

Standard Searing Flames

Searing Flames
Glowing Gaze
Fire Attunement
Meteor Shower
Glyph of Sacrifice
Resurrection Chant
Convert Hexes
Lightbringer's Gaze

12+3+1 Fire Magic
12+1 Energy Storage
3 Healing Prayers

The tank gets a Balthazar's Spirit from the bonder. Searing Flames Eles get Bipped frequently.

Thanks. Why the Convert Hexes? Just because somebody has to do it?

Ears of the Woods · May 19, 2007, 03:41 AM // 03:41

there are many variations on the ele tank.
most use E/Me because it works for all 4:
OFlesh
Stoneflesh Aura
Armor of Earth
Glyph of Concentration
Mantra of Resolve
Mantra of Earth
Stone Striker
Ward Against Foes/Grasping Earth

Earth Magic: 12+1+3
Inspiration Magic: 12
Energy Storage: 3 + 1

Personally, I use this for all 4:
E/W
OFlesh
Stoneflesh Aura
Armor of Earth
Glyph of Concentration
Balanced Stance
Ward of Stability
Wary Stance
Ward Against Foes/Grasping Earth

You're the source of all the damage absorbtion in the team. I suggest starting off by nuking and watching where the tanks pull to. If it works, use that same spot. Just make sure to keep up your enchants as much as possible and cycle OF/SB constantly. Good luck to you.

Ensign · May 19, 2007, 08:42 PM // 20:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francis Crawford

Thanks. Why the Convert Hexes? Just because somebody has to do it?

Yeah, and the Monk bars people run are janky enough that you don't want to force it onto them. Removing hexes quickly when they get on the tank is critical in Gloom. The Eles tend to be up there to use it on the tank more anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ears of the Woods

there are many variations on the ele tank.

Yeah, the only really essential skills are Obsidian Flesh, Stoneflesh Aura, Armor of Earth, and Glyph of Concentration. Ward Against Foes / Grasping Earth are convenient for getting cleaner kills, but aren't strictly neccessary (not that there are skills that you really need over them though).

The last 3 skills on your bar are there to better deal with the various interrupts on the important skills. The /Mes version takes Mantra of Resolve to force through Glyph of Concentration against all the Savage Shots in Gloom - and otherwise has great independent energy management. /Dervish gives you the best knockdown protection (from Margonites and some Titans), as well as Mystic Regeneration. I like the look of that /Warrior version for dealing with any sort of interrupt, though you're a good bit more squishy (in need of a bit more Monk support).

I'm personally not a master by any stretch, but haven't found any individual Ele tank bar that I'd call the best so far. It's just a matter of deciding which problems need a build solution and which you can play around.

Peace,
-CxE

Marverick · May 20, 2007, 01:15 AM // 01:15

Obsidian Flesh just calls for Serpent's Quickness, yes you can use a Spellbreaker Monk but meh I'd rather use something more useful.

SF without MoR = fail. At least one Ele in the group should take it.

Mouse at Large · May 20, 2007, 11:54 AM // 11:54

With Tenshi's build above, consider taking out Arcane Echo, investing a couple more points in Inspiration and taking Mantra of Resolve as well. It may cost some energy when stopping interrupts, but with Mind Blast Spam, you can live with it, especially when paired with the Stone Striker/Mantra of Earth combo. You wont be doing massive direct damage, but you'll be doing fairly good single target constant degen from burning.

Works even better with a fiery barrager/melee types with fire weapons - then everyone gets the benefit of MoR

Ensign · May 20, 2007, 10:33 PM // 22:33

You could run a Serpent's Quickness Obs. Flesh tank, but it's extraordinarily fragile, and not having Spell Breaker sucks in new and improved ways that are obvious after doing DoA for a few minutes.

You can usually fit a Mark of Rodgort on one of the Eles, but it's a luxury that goes into one of the last free slots, not any sort of neccessity. If you want a bit more energy freedom with GLE, you'll never have one but it isn't a big deal. I've run with and without it and never missed it when it wasn't there.

Peace,
-CxE

Dr Strangelove · May 21, 2007, 06:15 AM // 06:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

You could run a Serpent's Quickness Obs. Flesh tank, but it's extraordinarily fragile, and not having Spell Breaker sucks in new and improved ways that are obvious after doing DoA for a few minutes.

You can usually fit a Mark of Rodgort on one of the Eles, but it's a luxury that goes into one of the last free slots, not any sort of neccessity. If you want a bit more energy freedom with GLE, you'll never have one but it isn't a big deal. I've run with and without it and never missed it when it wasn't there.

Peace,
-CxE

The easiest way to run an ele tank is to take advantage of all the QZ's going down and just bring a ranger along to make sure it stays up. I ran a fairly succesful sliver armor/obs flesh ele that could pretty much blast through anything except the chilblains titans and vamp touch things. I've heard weapon of quickening works as well, but that means casting stuff on the tank, which has the nasty side effect of pissing off all the monsters.

[skill]obsidian flesh[/skill][skill]whirlwind[/skill][skill]sliver armor[/skill][skill]sympathetic visage[/skill][skill]channeling[/skill][skill]stoneflesh aura[/skill][skill]kinetic armor[/skill][skill]earth attunement[/skill]

Is what I have saved in my build template at the moment, but I remember having an anti-interrupt in there somewhere too. The ranger had QZ, brambles and lacerate, and I had a monk along bonding me up.

As for mark, I'd say it's pretty much mandatory for one of the eles to have it over lightbringer's gaze, it really does add a crapload of damage when your eles are spamming SF on a mob for a significant amount of time, and it also makes sure that GG always triggers.

Ensign · May 21, 2007, 10:07 AM // 10:07

Not having Spellbreaker makes it a huge pain in the ass to make a lot of the non-trivial pulls, since you'd have to make your death march at 50% movement speed the whole time, often well out of any sort of support range. I wouldn't run without Spell Breaker in Foundry, and I'd really rather not run without a doubled anti-interrupt in Gloom...so I guess /R for Serpent's Quickness is good if you just want to do the first room of Foundry or City? I tried it initially and hated it.

The question on Mark of Rodgort is whether or not you want to have GLE on your SF Eles, which is another way of asking, "BiP or bust?" You generally need 6 skills on each guy regardless - Searing Flames, Glowing Gaze, Meteor Shower, Fire Attunement, Glyph of Sacrifice, Resurrection Chant (x2) / Rebirth (x1). If you want GLE, you have 3 slots to play with, and those have to be 2x Convert Hexes and a Lightbringer's Gaze in my mind (with Ward Foes on the tank). You could probably get away with cutting the Rebirth on one of those Eles for a Mark of Rodgort, if you really wanted to, but I'd rather not take out failsafes for a skill that's just nice to have. If you drop the GLEs though, by all means take a Mark, along with an Extinguish and another Gaze (or 2x Extinguish, or the Deep Freeze).

There are very likely some more complicated builds that you could run in DoA and be successful with, but nothing else nearly as idiot proof as the standard build everyone runs.

Peace,
-CxE